Malampa Revivors have identified what went wrong in their OFC Champions League debut against Lae City and are talking up their chances of bouncing back against Western United this afternoon.
The Vanuatu club were thrashed 5-2 at the weekend, in their first ever O-League match.
Malampa Revivors duo Marcelin Piloe and John Alick try to clear the ball against Lae City Dwellers. Photo: OFC via Phototek
Assistant coach Steven Ham says defence and finishing let them down but they have analysed their game and worked to address those problems in training.
"After our first game we find out our weaknesses and we watched the second game of Western and Auckland City," he said.
"Yesterday we sit back and see how they play so we already put up a game-plan to play against Western today."
Western United scored first in a 2-1 defeat against reigning champions Auckland City.
Despite their opponents having a wealth of Solomon Islands national players, including Benjamin Totori and captain Henry Fa'arodo, Steven Ham believed Malampa was capable of getting a result.
"They've got experienced players and we've got our players here and what we talked about yesterday is we are all the same," he said.
"If they can play then we can play too. It's not about experience and all the stuff but we can do it."
"We are new to the O-League competition - it's a new thing, a new environment so I hope [the first game] is one failure for us because it is new, we have a new experience with us," he said.
"Our first game, it is a good experience and we are looking forward for the next game."
Hosts Auckland City and Lae City Dwellers will square off in today's other Group C clash.
Western United scored first against Auckland City. Photo: OFC via Phototek