Kitchee Seeks to Keep Up with Title-Chasing Pack i

Kitchee Seeks to Keep Up with Title-Chasing Pack in Premier League Battle against South China Withstanding the bitterly cold blast that has recently landed in Hong Kong, Kitchee remains squarely focused on its preparation for this weekend’s BOCG Life Hong Kong Premier League heavy-weight clash against old rival South China. The match will take place in South China’s home turf Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon at 5:30pm. South China currently occupies the second position in the premier league table, three points above third-place Kitchee. The two sides have already met up for three times this season and have each tasted victory and defeat, indicating the difference between the two sides are marginal at best. However, both teams went through personnel changes at the start of 2016, with Kitchee bringing in former Australian youth international Jared Lum and Spanish striker Rufino Segovia, with the Caroliners picking up former Kitchee ace Chu Siu-kei, foreign imports Ryan Griffiths and Felix Borja. While Saturday’s game will be a test of strength and will as always, the overall performance and team chemistry might also very well determine the eventual outcome. Kitchee midfielder Ngan Lok-fung, who has returned to training after coming back from surgery, has been chopping his bits to get going in recent training sessions. “I have rejoined training for two to three weeks now and I think I am around eighty percent in terms of my fitness level,” assessed the Kitchee youth product. “We all know very well where we stand in the league title-chase at the moment so there is really no point in doing any scoreboard-watching. We just need to work hard and accumulate as many points as possible, then we can start talking about the title-chase again.” Midfield enforcer Matthew Lam maintains spirits are high in the Kitchee camp and players are ready for Saturday’s battle against South China. “The title-chase seems to be out of our hands right now but we will still be going for it until we run out of games or points,” Lam insisted. “The Kitchee-South China matchup always gets people’s competitive juices flowing and it will likely be the same this weekend. However, it is very important for us to say focused throughout ninety minutes and make sure we perform up to our own standards.”