KARACHI, May 1: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) are optimistic about continental success.

Although they might not go all the way to lifting the AFC President’s Cup, they are aiming to get past the preliminary stage.

The Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) champions begin their campaign in Asia’s third-tier club competition on May 8 in the Philippines and first up they face two-time champions Dordoi Bishkek in their Group ‘B’ opener.

The Kyrgyz side are their sternest test in the group phase which also sees them playing against Philippine champions Global FC (May 10) and Bhutanese title-holders Yeezdin FC (May 12).

The top two teams advance to the second group phase which will see six teams contest for a place in the final from the two groups.

And KRL head-coach Tariq Lutfi is looking to start their campaign in style against Dordoi. “A good result in the first game will set the momentum for us,” he told Dawn from Islamabad on Wednesday. “Our minimum aim is to get through to the next stage and from there we’ll see how far we can go.

“We’ve been training for almost a month and the team’s fitness levels are good. We will go with an almost full strength team as only Rizwan Asif [fracture] is out.

“But Kaleemullah, Mohammad Adil and captain Samar Ishaq — the vital cogs in our team — are in good health and raring to go.”

The match against Dordoi will certainly evoke memories of Pakistan’s AFC Challenge Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan in March, which the Greenshirts lost 1-0 to crash out from the running for a spot in the finals of Asia’s second-tier event.Almost eight KRL players lined up for Pakistan in that match with an almost similar number of Dordoi players in Kyrgyzstan’s starting line-up.

“There is big a difference in the style of play between the national side and KRL,” central defender Samar said. “We have different philosophies. While the national plays defensively, KRL are a more attacking side.”

According to Adil, it is a chance for them to take revenge for the loss in the Challenge Cup.

“It hurt when we lost to them,” Adil recalls. “But this is our chance to avenge that defeat and we’ll hopefully take it with both hands.”

Dordoi striker David Tetteh scored for Kyrgyzstan in that game and while the Ghana-born striker will once again spearhead the Kyrgyz champions’ attack, KRL will be hoping their star striker Kaleemullah finds his scoring form.

Top-scorer in the PPFL last season en route to domestic glory, Kaleemullah has hit a barren patch for Pakistan and there are doubts whether he can translate his domestic form to the international level.

And Kaleemullah is looking at the President’s Cup to regain his scoring touch.

“We’ll play an attacking game and hopefully I’ll be able to score goals that take us through to the next stage,” Kaleemullah said on Wednesday. “It will be tough but we have the confidence and fitness levels to make it happen.”In last season’s President’s Cup, KRL made it through to the second round after two goalless draws in the preliminary phase but they were found wanting against the teams in the second stage, scoring just once and suffering back-to-back defeats.

“We’re in good form and with Kaleemullah in good form, hopefully we can correct that,” Adil, scorer of KRL’s only goal in the competition last year, said.

KRL, with the support of their management have further strengthened their team from last season, roping in four players including Saeed Ahmed, named best player in the PPFL last season, from Muslim FC.

Group ‘B’ will be played out in the Philippines’ Cebu City after the AFC gave their approval to the host city after checking on the preparations on Wednesday.

Global FC, winners of last season’s United Football League (UFL), will have home comforts and support during the tournament and Lutfi isn’t taking them lightly.

“Of course, they will have the backing of the crowd so it will be good match against them,” he said.

The Philippine club has a cosmopolitan make-up to their squad; boasting a number of Filipino internationals in their squad along with Japanese midfielder Yu Hoshide, former Sheffield United defender Ben Starosta and ex-Hanover 96 striker Denis Wolf.Such has been their rise since being formed in 2000 that they have been invited to take part in this season’s Singapore Cup.

Yeedzin’s relative inexperience, meanwhile, offers KRL’s best chance for a three-pointer.

“We’ll look to gain maximum points against them and hopefully by the time we face them we’ll be in a good position to qualify,” Lutfi said.

KRL head for Cebu City on Monday and manager Ayaz Butt feels the team is motivated enough to perform well.

“The players are really motivated and it will help us develop as we’ll be playing against top teams in the region,” he said.