FORMER Queens Park Rangers defender Damion Stewart will make his Pahang debut in Kuantan on Saturday against Kuala Terengganu T-Team in the Super League.
After ditching strikers Nikolce Kleckaroski of Macedonia and Moroccan Mohamed Borji, Pahang coach Dollah Salleh moved to bring in Jamaican international Stewart while also hoping to finalise the signing of Argentine striker Matias Conti from Velez Sarsfield.
Dollah said Stewart, 32, will help shore up a defence which has conceded 16 goals in 11 matches in the Super League, the joint-highest with Darul Takzim.
"He is good and experienced and his signing will at least strengthen the defence which has been a big problem for us," said Dollah yesterday.
"The defence has been our main weakness but I have to decide who to play as we also have Saifulnizam (Miswan), Zaiza (Zainal Abidin) and Razman (Roslan)."
Stewart featured for QPR from 2006-2010 in the English Championship and also had stints at Bristol City and Notts County, where he last played in the third-tier League One.
Given that Fauzi Roslan and Azamuddin Akil have developed a good understanding up front, the need for a foreign striker has been reduced though Dollah is keen on having Conti, 23, in the squad.
"We have not confirmed him yet but if we can, we would like to register him before the weekend," said Dollah of the striker scouted by team manager Zainal Abidin Hassan.
"We are still waiting for his ITC (international transfer certificate) and hopefully he will do better than the previous imports."
Kleckaroski and Borji failed to impress after starting just one and two matches respectively in the Super League and the writing had been on the wall after the pair were replaced at half-time in the opening match of the season.
Other confirmed signings so far since the transfer window opened on Monday include Kedah's Croatian striker Alen Guc for Brazilian Chayene Santos and Perak's Paulo Ranger for French striker Karim Rouaini.


http://www.nst.com.my/sports/soccer/pahang...tewart-1.252865

Kuantan: Bekas pemain kelab Tristan Suarez dari Liga Primera B Argentina Matias Conti melengkapkan kuota pemain import skuad Pahang bagi mengharungi Liga M musim ini.

Conti, 23, dari Reconquista diharap membantu menajamkan lagi jentera serangan yang dilihat gagal menyerlah pada saingan Liga Super.


Setiausaha Persatuan Bolasepak Negeri Pahang (PBNP) Fuzzemi Ibrahim berkata, kehadiran Conti mampu menajamkan lagi jentera depan skuad itu.

Menurutnya, pengalaman Conti boleh menambah sengat skuad itu bersama penyerang tempatan Mohd Fauzi Rozlan.


“Selepas aksi hambar dipersembahkan Borji dan Klechkaroski, kami harap dua import baru akan membentuk persefahaman lebih mantap untuk meletakkan Pahang pada kedudukan terbaik,” katanya.


Mengulas sama ada Conti dan Stewart akan beraksi pada pusingan kedua Liga Super bertemu T-Team, Sabtu ini, Fuzzemi berkata, pihaknya akan berusaha menyenaraikan mereka.

Setakat ini, urusan berkaitan Sijil Perpindahan Antarabangsa (ITC) akan diselesaikan secepat mungkin bagi mendapatkan lesen daripada Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM).


“Kami mahu menurunkan mereka pada pertemuan dengan T-Team tapi ia bergantung kepada keputusan FAM.”

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/...icle/index_html