SINGAPORE -- Lion City Sailors have had to endure a testing start to their 2024-25 ASEAN Club Championship campaign.
But on the back of making history in the AFC Champions League Two, the Singapore Premier League outfit is ready get back on track on the regional stage -- starting with Thursday's meeting with Kuala Lumpur City.
Having had to play their first two matches in the ASEAN Club Championship away, the Sailors suffered back-to-back defeats against Borneo Samarinda and Cong An Hanoi -- conceding eights goals in the process while scoring none.
With the competition on hiatus since September and only now resuming in the new year, plenty has happened since.
The most noteworthy of which came in the Sailors' most-recent outing, when an inspired 5-2 victory over Port saw them advance from the group stage of the ACL Two, sealing a first continental knockout-round appearance in the club's history.
It was such displays on the continental front, which also included a 2-0 win over China's Zhejiang Professional, that provide the belief that they can ignite their prospects of regional success.
"I think we proved in the Champions League that we can compete with everybody," said Sailors coach Aleksandar Ranković. "Definitely [everybody] from Southeast Asia.
"We shouldn't forget we didn't win our [domestic] competition for the last three years. So the motivation to perform there is very, very high.
"But, of course, these [regional or continental] games give you something extra. We [Singapore Premier League] don't have so many teams so you're always playing against the same team.
"The Champions League and Shopee Cup [ASEAN Club Championship] is something wherer you can see where you stand compared to other teams in these tournaments."
While the ASEAN Club Championship provides the extra incentive of regional bragging rights, Thursday's clash between the Sailors and KL City has the added spice of the fierce Singapore-Malaysia rivalry.
The nations only recently faced off at the ASEAN Championship last month, where a 0-0 draw at Bukit Jalil National Stadium saw Singapore pip Malaysia to a semifinal berth.
Nonetheless, Rui Pires stressed the importance of not getting too caught up by the rivalry, although he does believe the Sailors faithful could provide them with a significant advantage.
"Some players have already spoke about that [the rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia," said the Portuguese midfielder.
"But in our minds, we know what we need to do -- the work in training that we then put on the pitch to get the three points. This is the most important for us.
"Obviously, we want our fans to come to support us as we need to get the three points against difficult opponents.
"When the stadium is full, it helps us. We need to win these three points because, if we don't, we go out of this competition."
With the Singapore Cup also starting in February, the Sailors will have even more commitments to juggle and Ranković is aware the depth of his squad will be tested even further.
"If you see my squad, it's not so big. Everybody has been playing," he added.
"It's definitely going to be the same in the next two months because, I think we have something like 13 games in January and February.
"It's going to be very challenging. I'm going to need everybody."