By Les Tan

National Stadium, December 20, 2008 – After morning practice at the National Stadium, it still doesn’t look like John Wilkinson will be fit in time for the second leg semi-final game against Vietnam tomorrow at 8pm.

Singapore drew the first leg 0-0 against Vietnam in Hanoi and Wilkinson’s absence was keenly felt as there was no one with the ability to hold the ball and play out of tight situations against the swarming Vietnamese who harried the Singapore team constantly.

In the meantime, Noh Alam Shah will probably start upfront with Agu Casmir, again relegating Indra Sahdan to the bench. Alam Shah came on for Indra in the second half against Vietnam in Hanoi and immediately made his presence felt with his biting, physical approach, earning himself a yellow card within minutes of coming on.

Despite playing their worst game of the championship against Vietnam, an assessment coach Raddy Avramovic himself was the first to make in the post-game conference in Hanoi, the chances of wholesale changes in the team are slim because he doesn’t have a bench with much big-game experience.

If Wilkinson doesn’t play, it will bring Shahril Ishak into the frame as it seems unlikely that coach Raddy would adopt the same defensive posture he did in Hanoi when he deployed Isa Halim, a defensive midfielder, alongside Mustafic Fahrudin, another defensive midfielder.

However, Shahril is not a 90-minute player and in all probability will only feature as a substitute.

Shi Jiayi, who was forced out to the right flank because of Wilkinson’s calf injury, is more comfortable in the middle of the field. He played out wide to accommodate the introduction of Isa but had a dismal outing.

However, Jiayi has been down with flu and on medication, leading to concerns on his match fitness.

Aleksandar Duric, who fractured his fibula in the first game against Cambodia, has been walking since yesterday and showed up at practice at the National Stadium this morning.

This led to frenzied speculation and questions from the Vietnamese and Singapore media, as well as the Vietnamese team, about whether he would play. Aleks will not return for the rest of the championship.

After this evening’s practice at 6pm at the stadium, we will get a better idea of who the starting XI is for the team tomorrow.