MELAKA - Sabah FC will be looking to build on last season's strong showing in the Malaysian Super League by hitting the ground running this year and head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee wants to be sure the multitude of new signings gel together in their pre-season tour of Thailand beginning Jan 28.
Of particular concern to Kim Swee are Sabah's three new foreign signings and three friendly matches arranged in Thailand against a local club, as well as clubs from South Korea and Denmark, will give him the chance to ensure their compatibility.
"These three matches are quite important to ensure we get a rhythm, especially with the presence of many new players in the Sabah FC team.
"Hence I hope that, with the training in Thailand, we will be able to form a good combination ahead of the new season,” he said when met by reporters at his family's residence in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations here today.
Three new foreign players are in Sabah FC's squad - former Gremio player Gabriel Peres, fellow-Brasilian Telmo Castanheira, who previously featured for IBV in the Icelandic League and former Kelantan FC player Jacob Njoku of Nigeria.
Their presence fills Sabah's quota of five foreign players, including Indonesia's Saddil Ramdani and South Korea's Park Taesu, whose contracts have been extended.
Meanwhile, the 52-year-old Ong admitted that he needed a little more time to tweak the performance of his players, despite them being in training for three weeks.
"Basically we need three to eight weeks of training to ensure the players are at a high enough fitness level.
"We hope players can continue training because every player in Sabah FC is important, given that this year we have to play many matches," he said, noting that Sabah FC have also qualified to play in the AFC Cup for the first time. - BERNAMA
Of particular concern to Kim Swee are Sabah's three new foreign signings and three friendly matches arranged in Thailand against a local club, as well as clubs from South Korea and Denmark, will give him the chance to ensure their compatibility.
"These three matches are quite important to ensure we get a rhythm, especially with the presence of many new players in the Sabah FC team.
"Hence I hope that, with the training in Thailand, we will be able to form a good combination ahead of the new season,” he said when met by reporters at his family's residence in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations here today.
Three new foreign players are in Sabah FC's squad - former Gremio player Gabriel Peres, fellow-Brasilian Telmo Castanheira, who previously featured for IBV in the Icelandic League and former Kelantan FC player Jacob Njoku of Nigeria.
Their presence fills Sabah's quota of five foreign players, including Indonesia's Saddil Ramdani and South Korea's Park Taesu, whose contracts have been extended.
Meanwhile, the 52-year-old Ong admitted that he needed a little more time to tweak the performance of his players, despite them being in training for three weeks.
"Basically we need three to eight weeks of training to ensure the players are at a high enough fitness level.
"We hope players can continue training because every player in Sabah FC is important, given that this year we have to play many matches," he said, noting that Sabah FC have also qualified to play in the AFC Cup for the first time. - BERNAMA