The permutations was simple for Perak going into the final Super League encounter of the 2020 season at Perak Stadium against Kedah, where a win would not only secure the team a second place finish behind Johor Darul Ta'zim but also would put the stamp on a place in the 2021 AFC Cup competitions.
But despite a rousing first half comeback which saw them overturning a 2-0 lead, the Bos Gaurus simply ran out of juice in the second period and lax defending of a corner kick saw Anthony Golec unable to keep up with Renan Alves' run gave the win to the Red Eagles.
Mehmet Durakovic started the match with a hand tied behind his back because club captain Shahrul Saad was suspended and key striker Guilherme de Paula had failed to recover sufficiently from an injury, and the Australian was quick to point out that things could have turned out differently had the two been available.
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"I think my players gave everything and I'm very proud of them. For 95 minutes they run, they chase and they fight. We had so many chances wasted and to be honest, that third goal really killed us. Coming back from two nil down wasn't easy, then we had a few chances in the second half. But at the end of the day, congratulations to Kedah who won and we didn't.
"Shahrul Saad is our captain. A fantastic player and you know how he play for Perak and Malaysia. De Paula was also a big big miss. So to have two players missing for a crucial game is not easy. But the players that came on for them did a very good job, I cannot ask anything more from them," said Durakovic in the post-match press conference.
Leandro dos Santos sparked the possibility of one of the greatest comeback story of the Super League with two goals in the 42nd and in the third minute of added time in the first half, after Perak had fell behind to a goal each Kpah Sherman and Fadzrul Danel.
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With Guilherme not available for selection, all focus shifted towards Shahrel Fikri, what with the Malaysian international in sparkling form and only needed one goal on the night to finish as the Super League top scorer. However the forward was not up to much in this game and Durakovic explained just why that is.
"Many don't know but Shahrel is playing for us with an injury. He knows we need the help and you can see his commitment to want to give to the team. He's been fantastic all year and it's not easy for a local player to be up there among the top goalscorers even if he ultimately did not win the Golden Boot.
"But tonight was not his night. Had he been injury free, he might have been able to score one or two goals."
But the Perak head coach chose to remained positive on what his charges were able to achieve in the league this season despite missing out the ticket to Asia. Pointing to the departures of the likes of Brendan Gan and Nor Hakim Hassan as big impacts to the squad, Durakovic was however comforted by the big efforts shown by his players for the season.
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"If you look back to the start of the season and see that when we lost a couple of big experienced players, everyone thought that Perak are going to finished sixth or seventh. The way that my players have played this year to be second and then drop a little bit to four, everyone should be very proud of what we achieved.
"Of course we would have love to go to Asia. We tasted that last year beating Kitchee and then going to Seoul. What an experience for the players. But at the end of the day, experience counts. If you look at the Kedah side, all their players are very experienced and they've got a big squad," he explained.
