'GOOD REMINDER' FOR LIONS FOR HK MATCH

Coach Lee says mistakes made in defeat by Thailand serve as preparation for crunch tie

- David Lee

The good news for the 155th-ranked Lions ahead of their winners-take-all Asian Cup qualifier in Hong Kong on Nov 18 is that they are not afraid to take the game to higher-ranked opponents, can create chances and have the quality to finish them off.

That much was apparent in the 3-2 defeat by world No. 96 Thailand on Nov 13 at the Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani, where Singapore put on a courageous showing in front of about 10,000 partisan home fans.

Coach Gavin Lee made four changes from the starting XI that won 2-1 in India in October, as Ryhan Stewart and Shah Shahiran returned from suspension to replace right-back Irfan Najeeb and midfielder Song Ui-young, while Akram Azman and Ilhan Fandi were preferred ahead of left-back Amirul Adli and forward Ikhsan Fandi.

They showed good spirit to equalise after being 1-0 down and made it a respectable scoreline after trailing 3-1, even though they could not prevent a 10th consecutive loss against Southeast Asia’s top-ranked side, who were playing their first game under new coach Anthony Hudson.

The bad news is, Lee’s Lions have not kept a clean sheet in their last six matches and still look prone to lapses of concentration.