February 13, 2004

Despite the fact India is rank below Singapore, Lions coach Radojko Avramovic is preparing his men for a tough battle for their opening Group 3 Pre-World Cup qualifying match in Goa, when they take on India at the Nehru Stadium.

East Bengal's display in their 3-2 win Geylang United was an eye-opener for Radojko Avramovic & he felt that the quality of the Indian national team could not be underestimated.

9 players of the India national team squad would come from East Bengal.

Radojko Avramovic stated he believed the rest of the Indian squad would be of equal or better standing than the East Bengal players.

He was worried that the Indian team had some very fast players who are very comfortable on the ball that would tear Singapore weak defence to pieces.

Singapore defence have been tore to pieces during the last 2 friendlies in January & coach Radojko Avramovic have admitted it is Singapore main weakness.

Therefore Radojko Avramovic have started working on the Lions for the tough match ahead.

However injuries are hampering the Lions with Hasrin Jailani (knee), Ridhuan Mohd (knee), Noh Rahman (knee), Rafi Ali (knee), Mustaqim Manzur (muscle), Agu Casmir (groin) & Ahmad Latiff (flu) all out of the training session

Daniel Bennett is also away in England on a personal matter, but is expected to return soon