Kitchee Seeks to Overcome Hong Kong Pegasus in Sen

Kitchee will be under the spotlight once again on Saturday afternoon, when the premier league powerhouse kicks-off the Canbo Senior Shield quarter-final phase. Waiting for Kitchee on the other end of the pitch will be the up-and-coming Hong Kong Pegasus. The exciting tilt between the two attacking-minded sides will take place in Mongkok Stadium and kick-off time will be at 2:30pm. It has been a decade since Kitchee last lifted the Senior Shield trophy. To put things in perspective, only keeper Wang Zhenpeng and midfielder Gao Wen remain from the 2005-2006 Senior Shield winning squad. Kitchee is coming off a demoralising 1:1 draw against fellow title-contender Eastern last weekend, therefore it will be interesting to see whether the team can bounce back in the Senior Shield by overcoming the equally difficult-to-handle Hong Kong Pegasus. Goalkeeper Wang Zhengpeng, who was in goal when Kitchee last lifted the Senior Shield, offered his assessment on why the historical trophy had eluded Kitchee all these years. “This is a prestigious trophy and teams often try extra hard to get their hands on it. Given how we tend to start things off slowly as a team, maybe that is why we have had our fair share of trouble in this competition over the past few seasons,” said the Kitchee custodian. “Hong Kong Pegasus is a strong side and I am sure the coach will have his game-plan ready for the opponent. As players, we can ill-afford to take the opponent lightly and instead, we will be very focused on the task on hand.” Towering defender Helio Goncalves spoke about the main threats that the Kitchee defense might be facing over the weekend. “Joao Pereira is a very good player and has been in fine form recently. He can definitely score and we need to pay extra attention to him,” said the Kitchee centre-back. “Admir Adrovic is another main scoring threat for Hong Kong Pegasus and can produce a goal at any time during the game. With those two leading the Hong Kong Pegasus attack, it is vital for us to stay concentrated throughout the match.”