Army United head coach Gary Stevens is aiming to prevent an aerial bombardment on Hassan Sunny's goal as he bids to build on a winning start to the Thai Premier League season with victory over TOT SC this weekend.
Stevens has identified TOT's strength in the air as the biggest threat to his side's chances of success in their first away trip of the year. The club from northern Bangkok lost Thai international Prakit Deeprom to champions Buriram United in the close season and their fortunes have been in decline since the Thai top tier expanded and became increasingly professional. Back in 2008, they finished a heady fifth, but they have ended each season outside the top 10 for the past five years. They narrowly avoided the drop last season by virtue of a better head-head record than Police United, with whom they finished level on 43 points.
However, Stevens insists that TOT have several danger men who will put his team to the test, including 6-foot-3 English striker, Bas Savage, and former Sao Paolo and Brazil Under-23 midfielder, Juninho. Nevertheless, the former Spurs and England midfielder is confident his side can claim another three points to add to those claimed in the 1-0 home win over Navy FC last Saturday.
After watching a recording of TOT's opening day 1-0 loss to Ratchaburi, Stevens told ESPN FC: "It's a game I strongly believe we can win. As a group of players, we can play for periods at a tempo that TOT will find difficult. Having said that, it's early in the season and I have seen TOT just once so far, so that first game may not be the fairest reflection on them. However, I definitely see it as an opportunity to go away from home and win."
When asked which TOT players had impressed him, Stevens added: "I remember watching Bas Savage when he was at Brighton and he used to do a great moonwalk celebration when he scored. He was a bit of a cult hero there and will obviously be a threat in the air. Juninho looked a clever footballer and the defender Lee Jun-ki was also a threat in the air at set pieces. We have just played against Navy striker Georgie Welcome and he offered a similar challenge. We'll have to work hard to stop their players getting crosses in, close down quickly and be careful not to give away too many corners and free kicks in dangerous areas."
New Army goalkeeper Sunny, who impressed on his debut last weekend, will also be doing tactical analysis before taking on TOT.
The Singaporean said: "With my goalkeeping coach, we will watch videos of their last game and take it from there."
While the Army management team was happy to get three points from the first fixture, Stevens is still under pressure to deliver an improvement on last season's ninth place finish. He said: "I've had a meeting with the senior management at the club and they have made their expectations clear. But we have to be realistic and budgets play a big part. If we had the biggest budget, we'd expect to be challenging for the top positions. Our first objective is to finish in the top half and the second is to finish in the top third.
"At the end of last season, there were a number of players that I wanted to keep but, for one reason or another, couldn't. But we're still striving to improve and be better than last year. Every other team will be getting better so we'll have to be better as individuals and as a group to be good enough just to finish ninth again."
Goalkeeper Sunny expressed similar sentiments to his coach when he said: "I will do my best to protect our goal and perform well consistently. Army United wants to be somewhere in the top half of the table and, of course, the club wants to do better than last year."
For Army to achieve their ambitions, it is games like this in which they have to pick up points. Their fans will be hoping that Sunny can ensure that a certain Englishman will not be performing a celebratory moonwalk.