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Ahmat rubbishes Shenhua exit rumors

By Ahmat Salleh - Saturday, March 7, 2020 - 1:04:16 PM

Shanghai Shenhua manager Ahmat Salleh dismisses rumors reporting that he is about to quit the Chinese outfit, saying it is totally 'baseless' and claims that his side's injuries is "more worrying" than Coronavirus.

The talk began to circulate shortly after Ahmat resigned from his post as Malaysia national team manager few days ago, with rumors emerged that he is ready to part way with his club side as well due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak where he will be looking to leave the country who is being hit hardest by the rapidly spreading epidemic.

However Ahmat, speaking at the press conference in a hazmat suit following Shenhua's 1-2 Level B Cup defeat against Preston North End rubbishes such talk, reiterating the reason of his resignation from the national team is to focus solely on his club management and saying that "it will take more than Coronavirus to force him out of the club", reinforcing his commitment towards the Shanghai-based club.

He also paid tribute to the medical personnel worldwide which is dealing with the outbreak. "They (medical staffs) have been doing a stupendous job, and we pray and hope that they will prevail in handling this threat," said Ahmat. "I would like to see they help us as well in term of injuries, but I guess they got their hands very full at the moment," he joked. "At least we only have to worry about injuries at the moment, and so far none on that burdensome outbreak," he continued.

That statement came to light after he confirmed that defender Kerry James set to be out for "an indefinite amount of time" after his recent injury setback.

"Yes, I think he will be out for quite a long time. It's a shame since he's been in good form lately, but he is a strong lad and we're working hard to ensure his full recovery," confirmed the manager. "Our squad depth is good, and there's a lot of option to choose. It's a big blow losing Kerry, but we'll do our best to get by," continued Ahmat.

He also praised goalkeeper Ke bin Jamaluddin, playing in his competitive debut in the Cup defeat. "He's been solid, grabbed an assist as well. Thought he's unlucky in their winning goal, but overall I'm satisfied,".

Both sides who have been qualified to the next stage prior to the game fielded a largely changed line-up, where Preston recovered from trailing a Peter Jan-Mersch goal to beat the home side with a late winner from Renick Mpenza following George Trimble's equaliser shortly before the half-time break.



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