Victory Against NSFC Gives Rhinos A Further Confidence Boost 

SEREMBAN, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Sabah FC’s success in earning three full points after defeating Negeri Sembilan FC (NSFC) yesterday has given the team added confidence to continue closing the gap with the top teams in the Super League.

Sabah FC head coach Martin Stano, however, said that the Rhinos must work hard to maintain their winning momentum and avoid becoming complacent, as there are still many matches to play.

"Of course, it gives us a lot of confidence to collect the points because we still want to keep a close gap with the top teams from the Super League, which are Selangor and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT). So, it gave us a little bit of an advantage, but still, there are a lot of games to play.

"Until the end of the season, so we cannot make a conclusion now, and we'll see how it goes later. Next we'll play the (FA Cup) semi-final, second leg, and then the league continues, so we will see how many points we can collect," he told reporters after the match at Stadium Tuanku Abdul Rahman here, where Sabah FC beat NSFC 2-1.

Sabah FC are currently in third place in the league with 32 points, seven points behind second-placed Selangor FC with 39 points and leaders JDT with 52 points, while NSFC are iin 12th place with 9 points.

Meanwhile, NSFC head coach K. Nanthakumar praised his players' performance despite failing to continue their winning streak at home.

He pointed out that a lack of focus, especially in the first half, was the cause of the defeat.

“We did give 100 percent in that game, but we couldn’t score, especially in the last minute. If we had scored, the game might have changed. We also lacked attacking players like Sabah FC,” he said.

-- BERNAMA