Sailors could seal 1st leg of historic treble this weekend

With an 11-point cushion over BG Tampines Rovers, the Lion City Sailors already have one hand on the Singapore Premier League trophy.

- Jeremiah Ong

They could get their other hand on it as soon as this weekend, should second-placed Tampines drop points against Hougang United on May 2 and the Sailors beat Geylang International at Our Tampines Hub on May 4.

That would give the Sailors 71 points, an unassailable tally should the Stags, who are on 57 points with five games left, fail to beat Hougang.

But Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic is not getting ahead of himself.

Speaking after his side's 3-1 win over the Young Lions on April 30, the Serb said: "We are not thinking about (the Tampines game). 'If' doesn't exist in football. We just go from game to game.

"There's not really a lot of pressure. We've had so much pressure this season that the guys are so used to it, playing eight, nine games in a month. For us, it is nothing new. It is just one step closer."

The match will be the Sailors' 51st in all competitions since their season-opener at last May's Community Shield, as they remain on course for a historic treble.

They will meet Sharjah FC of the United Arab Emirates in the Asian Champions League Two (ACL2) final on May 18, before facing Brunei DPMM in the Singapore Cup semifinals, with an eye on the May 31 final.