[Singapore Cup] Tigers' Kraljevic unperturbed by past records to stay focus in Final showdown

Balestier's coach Marko Kraljevic (file picture)

It is by no mean an easy feat to see Balestier Khalsa's coach Marko Kraljevic to lead the unfancied Tigers to the club's second Cup Final on consecutive season.

After all, the Croatian is considered a rookie for taking charge a S.League senior side for the first time in his coaching career that saw him once handled the Prime League squads of both Balestier and Woodlands Wellington in recent years.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's RHB Singapore Cup Final against Home United, their much illustrious opponents across Braddell Road, the 49-old-year appeared confident when sat down with this blogger after his team's training session at their Toa Payoh base last evening.

Said the former Tampines Rovers midfielder:"I believe with the high spirit, we are having at this moment, we can win the Cup,

"This is especially after we made it to the top-six of the league (after Round Two), everything started to be on the rise and we are looking forward to this Friday (Cup Final)."

Park Kang Jin (right) - a key factor for the Tigers (file picture)

However, given their league record against the defending Cup holders this season that saw them lose twice by a goal margin, Coach Kraljevic is unperturbed by that statistic when he pointed out Balestier played their best game against Home at Jalan Besar Stadium back in June with a three-nil shutout.

"We have always played well at Jalan Besar with everything boiled down to the last game and what happened before this match doesn't count." said one-time Kelantan player.

"It's not on the paper that counts but what is on the field, we just need to take things step by step and with our focus on the game."

Tigers in high spirit after semi-final win (file picture)

Indeed, it has been a remarkable season for the Singapore permanent resident who got off a bumpy start at the opening period of the season with injuries to some of his key players like Park Kang Jin and skipper Paul Cunningham along the way that now he is given the luxury of having a full squad without worries of any undesirable occurrence.

"To me, it's not just an achievement for myself, but also for the players and the club too, that we have picked up nicely after all the injuries we had during the season." added the man who is one of the nominees for the prestigious RHB "Coach of The Year" award in this Sunday's annual S.League Awards Night.