BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Kedah centre back Zac Anderson was not surprised by Selangor's defensive approach in their 1-1 draw on Saturday.
In the Super League match that was held at Kedah's homeground the Darul Aman Stadium (SDA), Selangor took an early lead through Veenod Subramaniam's 16th-minute goal. The hosts managed to find the equaliser through Ken Ilso Larsen's shot from outside the box in the 30th minute, but could not find the winning goal as they were denied by the Red Giants goalkeeper Norazlan Razali's heroics, and the visitors' negative approach.
Goal managed to speak after the match to the 26-year old defender, who did not feature in the clash as he was rested by head coach Nidzam Adzha Yusoff.
The Australian told us that Kedah's opponents come to the Darul Aman knowing that Kedah will play positively, resulting in the visitors having to take a more pragmatic approach.
"I think teams understand the way that Kedah want to play, that is to keep the ball and play positive football. Teams have come to our home this season and played very defensively to try and get a draw.
"We know and understand this but we can't do anything about it. We just have to be better, worry about ourselves, and hopefully we can break down defences better in the coming matches," said Anderson.
When asked about the departure of six of Kedah's young players who have joined the Malaysia U22 training camp ahead of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, the former Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC man admitted that things have been difficult for the Red Eagles, but it has also given a chance for their other squad members to prove themselves.
"Every football team needs to rely on its reserve players at times, and we are very lucky that we have such a good team. At the moment it's hard with the absence of the junior national team players, but it gives other players an opportunity to play.
"Tonight is disappointing in that we have dropped two points, but we have to refocus because we have another important game in two days' time," he responded.
On Tuesday Kedah will play away to Kelantan, in their third Malaysia Cup group match.
The defender also took the time to express his appreciation to the home fans who turned up in droves for the match.
Kedah fans had been incensed to find out days before the match that the Kedah FA had requested that the M-League broadcaster not show the match on live television, citing low gate receipts, and certain sections of the fans had called for a boycott of the clash.
However, on the day match itself all talks of a boycott had been proven unfounded, as 18,000 fans turned up for the match; the most-anticipated encounter of the Super League round 16.
"I want to say 'thank you' to the Kedah supporters tonight. The stadium was full, it was a great game.
"We're disappointed not to have won the match, but there are a lot more matches to come," said Anderson.