Brendan defends tactics in stalemate in Kuantan

The experienced central midfielder slammed any suggestion that Perak were only playing for a point in 0-0 draw away to Pahang on Sunday.

Without two key individuals in defence in Hafizul Hakim and Shahrul Saad , Mehmet Durakovic had Perak adopting a safety first approach against a team four places above them in the league standings. It was a necessary ploy against a Pahang side who have not been defeated at Darul Makmur Stadium thus far in the 2019 season in all competitions.

However with the pace of J. Parthiban on one side and Nor Hakim Hassan on the other, Perak stil could rely on the explosive power on the flanks to launch into quick counter attacks. Midfielder Brendan Gan felt that it was the perfect game plan used by The Bos Gaurus and with better luck, they could have even taken all three points back to Ipoh.

"No, we never play for a draw. Everyone thinks that just because we didn't attack then every single time or press them every single time, that we weren't attacking. We had a plan to sit off and counter attack, and we did that perfectly. We frustrated them and they start saying that we dropped off too much and went down. But our keeper only went down once.

"I'm very proud of the team's performance. We came here to tactically defend first then attack when we could. In the end we had some chances and could've even taken the lead," said Brendan in an interview with iflix after the match.

The scoreless result makes it nine for Perak in the draw column, the highest for any team in the division this far. Yet the point gained in Kuantan sees Perak maintaining their sixth place, creeping within a point of Melaka.

The league will be taking a two weeks break at the start of June for the international matches to take place but before that Perak has a chance to leapfrog Melaka when they face each other at Perak Stadium on May 25.