By Shahrukh Sohail, Senior Correspondent, Islamabad
The former Fulham defender spoke exclusively to FootballPakistan.com, casting an eye on Monday’s crunch tie with the Lions at the Jurong West Stadium and his expectations going into the game.
Pakistan failed to get the better of a Singapore XI yesterday, with the hosts coming out on top in a fast paced game.
Coach Zavisa Milosavljevic utilized most of his resources, but wasn’t able to rely on the services of Zesh Rehman, who will be joining the squad after getting released by his side on Sunday.
While the centre-back hasn’t had the pleasure of working alongside the Serbian, the ex-QPR man is relishing the chance to play for the Green Shirts once again.
“I think the new coach is great. He is very professional and wants to improve the state of football in Pakistan. When I spoke to him, he seemed very enthusiastic about the development of local players and the integration of foreign players,” said Rehman, while speaking to FootballPakistan.com
Considering the rise of the S-League, Pakistan will be in for a tough ride against Singapore, but Zesh insists that such challenges against quality opposition will help the team improve in the long-run.
“It will be a difficult game but we must believe we can get a positive result and put in a good performance. They have good experienced players so it will be a good test for us. The league in Singapore is more established than in Pakistan due to the presence of foreign players, which raises the standards of the local players,” he claimed.
Nonetheless, the central defender reiterated that a positive result was not beyond the Green Kickers, especially if the players are able to gel together.
“I think everyone will be able to gel. It’s a pleasure to play for Pakistan, so whoever plays will be doing their best to show case what Pakistan can do on the international football stage. I think we can do well against the Singapore attack. I have played against several of their players in the last two seasons in the AFC Cup for my clubs Muangthong United and Kitchee so I know it won’t be an easy game but also one we should not be going into with fear.” the 29-year-old was quoted as saying.
Rehman will play for Kitchee SC today 17 November before departing for Singapore tomorrow for the game on 19 November.