Tai Po are in this 2020 AFC Champions League playoff by virtue of being the 2018-19 Hong Kong Premier League champions but when they take to the pitch at Darul Aman Stadium on Tuesday to face Malaysia's Kedah, there's no doubt that they will not be favourites to advance to the next match to face South Korea's Seoul FC.
However head coach Davor Berber is quietly confident that despite the difference in tags between the two teams, that his team is well capable of creating a surprise and is challenging his players to rise to the occasion in front of what is expected to be a full house in Alor Setar.
"We come here, our target is to show ourselves in the best light and at the end, we hope we are the team who are going to celebrate. We are ready. We know a lot of information about Kedah. We do our homework and we know they are a big club in Malaysia as Tai Po are in Hong Kong.
"We dont' afraid of nothing. We know it's going to be a full stadium but that will give us more pleasure to play. We have small muscle problems with a few players but every player that we brought are ready to play. We have our strategy. We want to represent Hong Kong football in the best way," said Berber in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
With the Hong Kong domestic season following that of their European counterparts, Tai Po should at least be in a better physical condition that Kedah who have are effectively still in their pre-season. However recent results have not favoured Berber with his team having only won one of their last eight matches.
However Berber has putting a lot of focus into the match against Kedah by saving his first teamers in their last two matches that turned out to be defeats to Warriors (3-0) and Happy Valley (4-2) respectively. As such, The Green Warriors are expected to field a much stronger side in Tuesday's clash.
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