Rodney Celvin wants Kuching City FC to show a smaller club can fight the region's best

Kuching City FC play their first ASEAN Club Championship match at home to Tampines Rovers on Wednesday 7 October, kicking off at 9pm local time, according to the AFF. Defender Rodney Celvin wants the debutants to make a point of it.

“Going up against these giant teams, we really want to prove something”, he told the AFF in an interview published on 1 October, adding that a smaller club can put up a fight against the big ones. He called the tournament “the perfect opportunity for us”.

The AFF says Kuching City FC earned the place by finishing runners-up to Johor Darul Ta’zim in the Malaysia Super League last season. The same two clubs met in the Malaysia Cup final at TM National Stadium, Bukit Jalil on 23 May, which Johor Darul Ta’zim won 2-0.

Group A also holds Buriram United, the defending champions, who won the first two editions, the AFF’s report adds.

Rodney left the first leg of Malaysia’s ASEAN Championship semi-final against Vietnam with a hamstring injury, and returned to club action two weeks ago after recovering, according to the AFF. “The ball is round, so we just have to step onto the pitch and fight”, he said of the nerves a debut brings.

At home, Kuching City FC are second in the Malaysia Super League table with 12 points from five matches, three behind the leader, having scored 15 and conceded 4. Their continental campaign elsewhere began with a 2-1 defeat away to Phnom Penh Crown in the AFC Champions League Two on 17 September.

Three days after meeting Tampines Rovers, on 10 October, they host Kelantan City FC at Taha Ariffin Stadium, Kuching in the Malaysia FA Cup quarter-final, kicking off at 7.45pm. The first leg in Kota Bharu on 20 September finished 0-0.

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• Kuching City FC host Tampines Rovers at Taha Ariffin Stadium in the ASEAN Club Championship