Sun Hei know size of their task

Defending champions Sun Hei will need nothing less than a two-goal advantage over Happy Valley to keep their title hopes alive when the two sides meet in the Coolpoint First Division League at Mongkok Stadium today.

Valley, however, need just a draw to claim the league title. With two matches left, Valley lead their arch-rivals by three points. A victory by Sun Hei will put the two local giants on level terms.

Should that be the case, their position will be first decided by their head-to-head record this season and Sun Hei, who lost to Valley 3-2 in their first encounter, will therefore need a two-goal victory to overtake their rivals.

Sun Hei, who returned from the Maldives on Thursday after playing in the Asian Football Confederation Cup, had tried to postpone today's match citing a disrupted league programme following the cancellation of two league matches last Sunday which involved all top three teams - Valley, Sun Hei and Kitchee.

However, their appeal was overruled yesterday by Hong Kong Football Association officials.

Sun Hei's first-choice goalkeeper Domingos Chan is still suffering from a shoulder injury and is likely to be replaced by Chan Ka-ki, while Valley's Cheung Sai-ho and Guy Ambassa are both doubtful starters.

Meanwhile, South China escaped the big drop when they narrowly defeated fellow strugglers Xiangxue Pharmaceutical 2-1 in yesterday's relegation battle at the Mongkok Stadium.