IPOH, Feb 11 (Bernama) -- The Perak squad must take full advantage of playing at home in the second round of the Asian Champions League (ACL) qualifiers here tomorrow night.
Team captain Shahrul Saad, when met during the press conference today, said although the team was aware that Hong Kong League champions, Kitchee SC were the favourites to qualify for the third round, it was no reason for the Bos Gaurus squad to surrender.
"We play at home, of course, we want to win. We will play all out and move on to the next round,” he said, calling on supporters to get behind the team.
The Bos Gaurus squad need to win to advance to the third round to face South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai.
If they get past the two qualifiers, they will be placed in Group H, with Sydney FC (Australia), Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) and Shanghai SIPG (China).
Meanwhile, Perak head coach Mehmed Durakovic said the match was very important for his team, especially the younger players, to gain experience against overseas clubs.
"This match is very important to us and as we know, Kitchee SC are the defending champions of the Hong Kong League and it is not an easy one.
"However, we will give them a tough fight even though we are a bit short in terms of players due to injuries," he said.
Kitchee SC head coach, on the other hand, said that his team was ready to battle it out against the hosts, and hoped that star striker Lucas Espindola da Silva would be on target this weekend.
“Kitchee has several import players and our strength lies behind Lucas, who was the top scorer in the Hong Kong League last season with eight goals,” he said.