Selangor coach P. Maniam is calling on his players to keep a tighter defensive lid ahead of important matches in the Malaysia Super League and Malaysia FA Cup.
The Red Giants' back four allowed it to rain goals by conceding five times at Shah Alam Stadium to lose 5-3 to PKNS FC on Saturday night.
Selangor next travel to face reigning MSL champions Johor Darul Ta'zim in a Week 4 fixture on Saturday before hosting Negeri Sembilan in the second round of the FA Cup on Feb. 14.
Against PKNS, former striker Patrick "Ronaldinho" Wleh came back to punish the side he was loaned out to in 2016, scoring a hat trick.
"We have to improve in our defending against JDT. We were totally off our game against PKNS, and were made to pay for it," Maniam said.
The new Selangor boss also paid tribute to Wleh, who was a constant thorn in their side.
"Wleh was good for them. His movement created a lot of chances for them, and we tried our best to contain him. We cannot let allowed ourselves be distracted so easily in the coming games," Maniam said.
Defeat left Selangor, who took an early lead through Syahmi Safari, in fifth place ahead of the JDT showdown.
A photo posted by FA Selangor (@faselangormy) on
PKNS, meanwhile, were thrilled to pick up their first morale boosting victory of the season.
Coach E. Elavarasan is already beginning to look forward to a more fruitful combination between Liberia's Wleh and veteran Safee Sali, who also opened his PKNS account.
"Wleh functioned well for us... he was much better than he played against Kelantan," Elavarasan said. "Safee, for me, should have scored another goal in the second half. But they will get better, the longer they play with each other."
The Red Ants will next welcome the visit of joint table-toppers Perak to Shah Alam Stadium next Saturday.
The victory against their sister club also signalled major intent from PKNS this season. They are competing on a bigger budget, and with a streamlined organisation, compared to the troubled state team.
Besides Wleh and Safee, Elavarasan snapped up Argentina striker Lucas Espindola, besides bringing in experienced heads such as K. Gurusamy, Bobby Gonzales and Sabre Mat Abu.