Resilient Geylang International will be looking to continue their perfect S.League record this season at the Jalan Besar Stadium when they take on Balestier Khalsa on Friday evening.
The Eagles have won two games out of two at the venue this season, taking down title favourites Tampines Rovers 3-2 in April before edging Home United 1-0 a week ago. Since 2014, they have won 10, drawn two and lost only one game in all competitions at the stadium -- the solitary defeat, though, came against Balestier.
Geylang goalkeeper Yazid Yasin told ESPN FC that the synthetic surface at Jalan Besar has helped his team. "The surface at JBS certainly helps our game," said Yazid. "But it's not the surface alone. It's also about the attitude & commitment of the team."
Things have been falling into place for the Eagles recently after a lacklustre start to the season when they registered just one win and two draws in the first seven games.
However, successive upset victories against Warriors FC and Home have propelled them to fifth in the table with 11 points.
Having missed the 3-1 victory against the Warriors, Yazid made an inspired return against Home. The custodian made numerous saves to ensure his side bagged three points. However, he praised his team's resilience to recover from a poor start to the season.
"I'm just happy to be back playing again," said Yazid. "Nobody likes to be sidelined through injury and I'm happy with my contributions so far this season.
"The team worked very hard and maintained discipline in the last two matches. We weren't inconsistent before that; we were just lacking a bit of luck and losing matches by the odd goal. However, we knew that if we kept working hard and improving our performances in both training and matches, the tide will soon turn for us."
A third successive win for the Eagles is certainly not beyond reach, with Jorg Steinebrunner's side having the luxury of a full week's rest while Balestier only had two days of rest after an exhausting 3-0 AFC Cup defeat to Johor Darul Ta'zim on Tuesday evening. A win for them will see them also leapfrog the Tigers into fourth spot.
However having lost 2-1 at the Toa Payoh Stadium earlier in the season, Yazid knows better than to underestimate the threat of the RHB Singapore Cup holders.
"We'll have a small advantage because they just played a game," said the 35-year-old custodian. "However, they are a very compact and well-organised team and are always difficult to break down.
"It was a close game when we played them in the first round; the key difference was that they took their chances and we didn't. So we need to be disciplined and match them stride for stride. We cannot afford to have any lapse in concentration as they have the players and quality to hurt us."
Geylang International Probable Lineup: Yazid Yasin (GK), Yuki Ichikawa, Hafiz Osman, Kento Fukuda, Syed Thaha, Nor Azli Yusoff, Shah Hirul, Hafiz Nor, Jozef Kaplan (C), Tatsuro Inui, Bruno Castanheira.
Balestier Khalsa Probable Lineup: Zaiful Nizam (GK), Hanafi Salleh, Igor Cerina, Nurullah Hussein, Ahmad Syahir, Fadhil Noh, Emir Lotinac, Poh Yifeng, Tarik Cmajcanin, Robert Pericic, Miroslav Kristic.