Durakovic hope to gain back 4 for yet another away trip

The renovation being done at Perak Stadium meant that The Bos Gaurus had to start their 2018 Super League campaign on the road and the 7th-placed team is preparing for yet another one, with the trip to Kota Bahru to play Kelantan on Saturday.

Two successive positive results away to fellow title contenders in Pahang and Kedah were undone by the "home" defeat suffered against PKNS FC, the last time Perak took to the field. As a result of the stadium renovation, Perak were forced to play at the Navy Stadium in Lumut.

To add injury to insult, the game was also played without any supporters due to a stadium ban because of crowd trouble suffered in a Malaysia Cup tie against Johor Darul Ta'zim last year. Something which coach Mehmet Durakovic feels impinged his side.

"We had two very tough games away. Against Pahang we were fantastic and should've won there considering the chances we created. Then we were fantastic also against Kedah. We had two wonderful games but it's not easy to be on the road against two of the best teams in the league."

"We came back here to play at home but at the moment we don't have that, so we have to play at Lumut without our supporters. And to be quite honest, some of our players were tired. We missed a few chances. To their credit, they scored in the first minute and through a set piece, so it wasn't like we were well beaten. 

"If you don't concentrate for 90 minutes, you're not focus for 90 minutes and you pick up your play for 90 minutes; anybody can beat anybody. That showed against PKNS that when you don't do your job properly, you get punished. 

"It was not easy playing against PKNS with no crowd. It was like playing a friendly game or a practice game. It was so weird and I've not seen something like that in my life," Durakovic told Goal.

The team is expected to travel down to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Thursday, before taking a flight to Kota Bahru. Having allowed the players to have a two-day break last weekend, Durakovic is hoping that the two-week league break has given sufficient time for some walking wounded to recover.

"Now we have to go to Kelantan, away also. So basically, we're playing four straight away games. [The break] It's come at the right time. A lot of the players are injured at the moment. Unfortunately they are not recovering at the rate that I want them to. It's nice to have a break because it's not easy to be away from your families for 12 days straight." 

"Nasir [Basharuddin] is close, Beto [Ahmad Khairil Anuar] is close, Hakim [Nor Hakim Hassan] as well. Leandro [dos Santos], I don't know yet. We're talking about 4-5 players who are slowly coming back, so it's not easy," added Durakovic.

Despite being in mid table, only three points separates Perak from the top of the table where their last victors PKNS currently sit. A win against troubled Kelantan, who are still without a head coach after dispensing Sathih Bensoh, could push the silver state side back into title contention.