Football
Kenneth Tan 9y

Hougang's Fazli bears no grudges ahead of Warriors S.League clash

Hougang United winger Fazli Jaffar will face old employers Warriors FC for the first time since his departure during the mid-season transfer window in a Great Eastern Yeo's S.League encounter at the Hougang Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Fazli, who joined the Warriors this season after spending the four previous seasons at Hougang, rejoined the Cheetahs after finding limited playing time under Warriors coach Alex Weaver.

However, the 32-year-old rules out there will be any extra motivation when he steps onto the pitch on Tuesday.

"I've nothing to prove to the Warriors," Fazli told ESPN FC. "I've tried my best and done my part when I was there. I've learnt a lot over the past six months about how things are being done there. It was also a great experience for me as we were involved in the AFC Cup.

"All these factors made me grow stronger as a player and I parted on amicable terms especially with the coaches and players," he said. "In terms of motivation, the game is going to be just as important for me as any other game. We really need a good run of results regardless of whom we play."

Once it was evident that his Warriors adventure was going nowhere, Fazli jumped at the opportunity to come back to the north-east based club where there are a number of familiar faces like Faizal Amir, Nurhilmi Jasni and Diego Gama.

"It was not the easiest decision to leave a team at the top of the standings and go back to a club which is struggling to get results," said Fazli. "I thought long and hard and eventually I made by decision because I was tempted by the opportunity to come back to familiar surroundings. I'm grateful to both clubs for allowing me to achieve my individual goals.

"Now that I am back, I have to work hard and help the team to achieve our targets for the remainder of the season."

Speaking about targets, Fazli wants Hougang to set sights on a top six finish in the league. Hougang have claimed just two wins and five draws in 14 matches and they are ninth in the 10-team league, five points behind sixth placed Harimau Muda but having played four games more.

"Looking at our results over the past two weeks, I believe top six is not that far to reach," he said. "The biggest obstacle for us is to get to know each other's playing style because there are a number of new players like me, Delwinder (Singh) and the four new foreigners.

"I'm still waiting for my first assist back here and I'm not anywhere near my best form, so I need to step up and show my best qualities to coach Salim Moin. We have to finetune our communication as soon as possible because there is not much time left.

"We're now taking it one game at a time and hopefully we will get some consistency."

Having clinched a gritty 1-1 draw away at Bandar Seri Begawan against Brunei DPMM, the Cheetahs should not be shorn of confidence taking on a Warriors outfit which has not won in the past two games.

However Fazli does not underestimate his former club.

"It's always dangerous to play teams who have dropped points in their previous games," he said. "We'll have to focus to get ourselves in the right mindset. We have to work together as a team and act according to instructions. The result boils down to which team wants it more."

Hougang United Probable Lineup: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Yuki Uchiyama, Kunihiro Yamashita, Tengku Mushadad, Delwinder Singh, Nurhilmi Jasni (C), Carlos Delgado, Taufiq Ghani, Fazli Jaffar, Vuk Sotirovic, Diego Gama

Warriors FC Probable Lineup: Daniel Ong (GK), Emmeric Ong, Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Irwan Shah, Kevin McCann, Shi Jiayi, Nicolas Velez, Hafiz Rahim, Miroslav Pejic, Fazrul Nawaz

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