The Lion City Sailors will return to Singapore Premier League (SPL) action less than 72 hours after a gruelling ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) Shopee Cup opener in Balikpapan, Indonesia, as they take on defending champions Albirex Niigata (S) at the Jurong East Stadium on Sunday (25 August) night.
Rest and recovery are paramount for the Sailors, who only arrived back in Singapore on Friday night and will have a solitary training session today before the White Swans encounter.
Defender Lionel Tan acknowledged the less-than-ideal preparations, but is backing the team to rise above the fatigue to secure an important three points in the title race.
“From the start of the season, we knew we’re going to be competing in four different competitions, so keeping players fresh will be tough. But we as a club want to take up this challenge because that’s how we can grow.
“This won’t be the only time we have to play a league game that quickly after coming back from a continental match, so we’ve to grow accustomed to this and adapt accordingly,” said the 27-year-old.
Indeed, there will be a similar situation next month with the Sailors playing Công An Hà Nội FC in Vietnam on 26 September in their next Shopee Cup game, before facing fellow SPL title contenders BG Tampines Rovers three days later back in Singapore.
“We’re well aware of the tight schedule and as players, we just have to make sure we rest properly so that we’re both physically and mentally refreshed. With the key recovery strategies set in place by our backroom staff, I’m sure we will go into each game prepared.”
With participation in the Shopee Cup and Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Two augmenting the SPL and Singapore Cup, Aleksandar Ranković’s men are now about one-quarter into a season which will likely see them play more than 50 games.
Squad depth will be key to helping the Sailors steer through their congested fixture list and remain on the course to attain major both domestic and continental honours.
“Every single player in this team is very driven because they know that opportunities will come in a season like this, and we have to step up whenever we’re given the chance to play,” said Lionel, who has made 10 appearances in all competitions this season.
“We’ve prepared for this since pre-season, so I believe whoever steps in to play will know what exactly to do.”
The Singapore international, who was one of those that emerged with some credit from Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Borneo FC Samarinda, believes the defeat has not disheartened the Sailors one bit.
“We could have managed the game better, but I think we did okay in the tough conditions. We weren’t outplayed; we created a number of opportunities and if we had put them away, it could easily have been a different game,” he said.
“But we’ve to keep moving forward and not dwell on the past. It’s lucky that we have a game so quickly after, so that we can get Thursday’s defeat out of our system.”
For Albirex, a full two weeks of rest ahead of Sunday’s game may not be the only advantage. The defending champions are also enjoying a bit of a resurgence after Keiji Shigetomi took over at the helm in mid-July, with the 45-year-old presiding over two wins and a draw in the five games that he has been in charge.
With that in mind, Lionel believes the Sailors have to approach this game carefully and keep their focus on the key objective – a win will see them leapfrog BG Tampines to go top after 12 games each and gain a slight psychological advantage in an enthralling title race.
“I’m sure Albirex will push hard in the first half to test our physical levels, so we must be prepared to deal with them tactically. The key for us is to cut down the individual errors that happened against Borneo and work well to cover for each other. I’ve full confidence that our team’s character will come through in this game.”
