Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Bacina satisfied with another win in packed schedule

Tampines Rovers coach Nenad Bacina was happy his side maintained their unbeaten run in the league despite fixture congestion.

Table-topping Tampines Rovers could have really put Woodlands Wellington to the sword at Clementi Stadium on Saturday night, but coach Nenad Bacina was in the mood to forgive his players for their wayward finishing after they had easily accounted for the Rams in a 3-1 win.

“I was a little disappointed that we conceded a goal late and didn’t keep a clean sheet,” he said.

“But my players are professionals and not robots and they have been coming to terms with a gruelling schedule of matches.

“They worked hard for the entire game on a heavy pitch, right from the opening seconds and we made sure we didn’t allow Woodlands the space they wanted to create opportunities.

“We managed to close them down very effectively and I wanted us to do that so that the Rams couldn’t threaten us at all.

The Croatian also admitted that the tight fixture schedule was taking its toll on his side, as was seen when defender Seiji Kaneko took to the field wearing a head bandage and played with understandable caution.

“Preparing for another game every two days is not easy,” he pointed out.

“We don’t have time to train properly, only [enough time] to do recovery work.

“Tonight we had to send on Seiji for [the injured] Anaz Hadee, though Seiji probably should not be playing yet as he still has the cut above his eye that has not healed.”

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