Singapore take on Thailand at Sengkang Stadium tonight knowing nothing less than a convincing victory will see them into the final. Indeed, should Myanmar get a positive result against Malaysia in the early hit off, then Singapore’s gold and silver medal chances will have disappeared.

However, team coach Salim Mohamed believes Malaysia will be playing at their best and should have no trouble in defeating Myanmar.

Mohamed said: “ In the spirit of the game I think a draw (between Malaysia and Myanmar) would not be a real outcome. I do not think it would be in the spirit of the game (if Malaysia allowed Myanmar passage to the final).”

Meanwhile, Mohamed has shrugged off any criticism levelled at the Men’s team for their performances so far in the SEA Games:

“Those are just noises. We keep it aside. It really doesn’t matter to us because we know what we are doing. I thought we rattled Malaysia and we will continue with that momentum and we will stick to our game plan.

“Everyone is fit and raring to go (for today’s game). We want to continue to give our best. We want to continue with our discipline and patient in our build up and we should get our goals. We need to concentrate on finishing and we need to be clinical. We have set some targets for our strikers.”

Regardless of what medal Singapore gets at this year’s SEA Games, Mohamed is confident that Singapore have progressed.

“What next after SEA Games? Singapore hockey will be stronger. The experience in this SEA Games will pave the way for other tournaments. Generally we have played according to our plan and we want to keep this strategy. We want to bring in new players. I think there are other players out there that can contribute to the national goals.”