Dollah happy with momentum heading into Malaysia Cup

The last two matches has seen Pahang recovered some measure of form that Dollah Salleh is hopeful will bring about a good Malaysia Cup campaign.

The 4-1 win over Melaka at Darul Makmur Stadium brought the 2019 Malaysia Super League curtain down for Pahang, a season which has seen them being the closest challenger to eventual champions Johor Darul Ta'zim. Initially fighting neck-and-neck with JDT, a slump in the middle of the season saw them drifted away from a title winning position but still managed to keep their distance from the rest.

Six points separating them from third place Selangor is no mean feat, Dollah has been able to get the best out of his team but suffered due to injuries at various points of the season to the likes of Dickson Nwakaeme, with Ze Love being unable to take up the responsibility and was eventually replaced by Lazarus Kaimbi.

The Namibian was in good form against Melaka, scoring twice to help Pahang to their 12th win of the season to close out on a positive note at home. A performance that has also warmed the heart of Dollah who has kept his faith with the 30-year-old.

"This is a good end to our Super League campaign, in a way helps to ease some of the pain in losing out to Perak in the FA Cup. This performance is close to what we showed when we were doing well at the start of the season. Hopefully we can take them into the Malaysia Cup competition.

"In the last two matches, Lazarus has been able to show what we expected from him. After the match against Terengganu, he came to me and we had a long discussion on his game. Since then he has worked well and today (Saturday) you can see him fighting hard for 90 minutes and we want to see him continue the same form in the Malaysia Cup," said Dollah in the post-match press conference.

Kaimbi opened the scoring in the very first minute of the match, adding his second in the second half in the 69th minute after he reacted quickest to a loose ball in the penalty box. In between Mohamadou Sumareh had nodded one in five minutes before the end of the first half while Luka Milunovic's free kick in the 50th minute was right on the mark.

The former Kelantan player also had a hand in the fourth Pahang goal of the match, laying the ball for Saddil Ramdani to fire in right at the end. Dollah will be hoping that Kaimbi continues his rich vein of goal-scoring form and with the added return to fitness of Nwakaeme, will be aiming to put their hands on the coveted Malaysia Cup trophy.