Defender Farhan Rahmat is ready to make up for lost time with the Courts Young Lions when they take on Brunei DPMM at the Jalan Besar Stadium in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League on Sunday night.
The 23-year-old was a regular in the starting lineup for most part of this year but was not included in Singapore's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games squad for the showpiece event in June.
While he was devastated that he did not get a chance to play at the SEA Games, Farhan is determined to look forward and secure a starting berth under the guidance of interim coach Juergen Raab.
He said: "Of course I was very sad not to make the final (SEA Games) squad and it is time to redeem myself and make up for lost time. Now I'm fighting for my position and who knows, I can even make it into the national team if I play well.
"For now, I'm almost done with national service (five more weeks to completion) and I want to start every match if possible. This will be down to giving my all during training sessions and I'm ready for the challenge."
Farhan started in the 3-1 loss to Hougang United on Monday night, and came off the bench in the pulsating 2-0 away win three days later against defending champions Warriors FC.
Up against 16-goal strike force of Rafael Ramazotti and Paulo Sergio,Farhan and his teammates must be at their defensive best if they are to stop the league's second highest scoring team with 17 league goals, from getting close to goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari.
Farhan's biggest challenge against DPMM will be to keep wingers Azwan Ali and Hendra Azam out of the game, so as to cut off the supply chain before they get the ball into the box for their lethal forwards.
Despite his team's poor record, and the daunting task of shackling the speedy wingers, Farhan remains unfazed and is even confident of upsetting the odds with at least a point.
He added: "Our team spirit is high and we still believe that we can do well even without them (the players who have joined LionsXII). We also have big players like Shahfiq [Ghani], Irfan [Fandi] and [Sim] Teck Yi who are out injured. Once they are back with the team, we will be stronger.
"As for Brunei, they have to chase the game and not us so that puts more pressure on then. With the new style that we are playing, I think we can steal a point or even get a win if we keep our concentration and match them."
Farhan's optimism is a good sign but the Young Lions' task will be made even more difficult with a defence line led by Boris Raspudic.
The giant Serbian defender is one of the reasons that Steve Kean's team have only conceded ten goals this season, but he will come up against Jordan Webb and Sherif El-Masri who are still buzzing from their fantastic win over Warriors.
In their two league meetings last season, a total of 12 goals were scored between them. DPMM put on a show at home to earn a 6-1 victory over the Young Lions and played out a 3-2 thriller at Jalan Besar to make it two wins in two over their young rivals.
Having secured their second league win of the season, it remains to be seen if Raab can mastermind another victory against DPMM. Two wins on the trot will certainly prove that the Young Lions are back in business.
Courts Young Lions Probable Lineup: Syazwan Buhari (GK)(C), Fadli Kamis, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Amirul Adli, Farhan Rahmat, M. Anumanthan, Afiq Noor, Suria Prakash, Jordan Webb, Adam Swandi, Sherif El-Masri
Brunei DPMM Probable Lineup: Wardun Yussof, Aminuddin Zakwan, Rosmin Kamis, Boris Raspudic, Sairol Sahari, Joseph Gamble, Hendra Azam, Maududi Hilmi, Azwan Ali, Paulo Sergio, Rafael Ramazotti.