WHEN Perak play Terengganu at Perak Stadium today, they will have met three Super League title rivals in a space of a week, which ought to give Norizan Bakar an indication of his team's staying power this season.
Perak have confounded early season predictions to challenge Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu strongly although Saturday's 1-0 defeat to the Klang Valley side in Shah Alam put a dent in their title aspirations.But if Perak can reproduce the form which brought them a 4-0 win over Kelantan a week ago, they will be well placed for a title assault at the league's halfway stage although Norizan prefers not to dwell too much on the subject.
"There is still a long journey ahead of us in the league. There are a lot of matches to be played and we can only take it one match at a time.
"Each team have their own strengths, so we have to stay focused and concentrated on each game," said Norizan in Ipoh yesterday.
Perak can leapfrog Terengganu into second place by avenging their FA Cup quarter-final defeat which came after a 3-1 reverse in Kuala Terengganu having won the first leg 3-2 in Ipoh.
"They might have knocked us out of the FA Cup but we also beat them in the first leg. But we must go into the match and perform if we hope to win," added Norizan, whose side trail leaders Selangor by four points.
Perak have Noor Hazrul Mustafa suspended but Khairi Zainudin is available after a one-game ban.
Meanwhile, Selangor will face Sabah in Shah Alam with few changes from the side which beat Perak on Saturday as they look for the win which will see them top the league after the first round.
Kelantan, who have failed to score in their last two matches, welcome Norshahrul Idlan Talaha back from suspension when they travel to bottom side Perlis, who gave themselves a boost after beating Negri Sembilan 3-2 for their first win at the weekend
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