SINGAPORE – With just a week to go to Singapore’s opening Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup match against the Philippines on Nov 19, concerns still remain over whether the Lions are fully prepared for the tournament.

In particular, the team’s lack of bite in front of goal is cause for consternation — V Sundramoorthy’s men have failed to find the back of the net in their last three international friendlies, falling 2-0 to both Syria and Hong Kong, and playing out a goalless draw with Malaysia in between.

With Singapore handed a tough group in the Suzuki Cup — they are drawn alongside co-hosts Philippines, Indonesia and defending champions Thailand — the Lions will have to find their scoring boots quickly, or risk early elimination from the biennial tournament.

However, national striker Sahil Suhaimi believes the team’s scoring woes are just temporary, and claims they will be able to find the back of the net when it really matters — at the Suzuki Cup.

“I think in the past few games, what we were lacking was composure,” explained Sahil, 24. “We were a bit too tense for the matches and we were affected by the pressure.

“But now, we’re taking it (the goal drought) as a challenge and we are all motivated to prove that we can score. We’ve been working hard on our finishing in training and so, I’m confident the goals will come when we play at the Suzuki Cup.”

Agreeing, Singapore winger Faris Ramli insists that while they have been unable to score in recent matches, the team’s overall displays were nonetheless encouraging.

“I think we did really well in our recent matches in terms of our performance, although results haven’t come our way,” said the Home United player. “The focus in these matches were not so much about how many goals we could score, but on how well we played as a team. Of course, we know we have to improve in our finishing. But that’s not just the strikers’ job.

“It’s also up to the midfielders and even defenders to try and chip in with the goals, especially during set-pieces.”

Singapore and Thailand are the most successful teams in the biennial AFF Championship, having won the tournament four times since its inception in 1996.

However, because the Lions crashed out of the group stages on home soil at the last tournament in 2014, and are currently winless in their last six games, vice-captain Hariss Harun admits they will be entering the tournament as underdogs.

“Everyone is talking about it being the group of death, and looking at the recent results as well, we are going into this tournament as the underdogs,” said the Johor Darul Takzim star. “But even then, nobody will say they are going to walk all over us. We cannot, and will not, let that happen and we are all preparing very hard for the tournament.

“We have the experience and players who are in the team know what we must do to do well in the tournament. All of us are really fired up and raring to go.”

Faris, Sahil and Hariss were speaking to the media at Jalan Besar Stadium yesterday afternoon, where they unveiled the new Singapore National Team kit, which will be worn at the Suzuki Cup.

The kit will make its official debut when the Lions take on Cambodia tomorrow evening (7.45pm) in a friendly at the Bishan Stadium. It will be the team’s last match before they depart for the Philippines on Tuesday.

Ticket prices

Grandstand: S$9

Concession: S$4

Tickets can be bought from www.globaltickets.sg and AXS machines. On-site ticket sales begin at 4.30pm tomorrow.