“It is evident we have a really good team spirit, you can see that from the way we play and our desire to win,” Westwood said.
“Our spirit is creating more options, players are hungry to be involved … one player told me that if anyone is left out of a squad, they are devastated, angry and upset.
“We are starting to make it enjoyable, when you play as we are, winning four games, scoring 10 goals and conceding only one, it creates spirit.
“The players love training, we have a lot of camaraderie, and we are developing a nice culture and environment.”
Previously unheralded left-back Nicholas Benavides celebrated his full debut against Mongolia by scoring his side’s third goal.
“That was the most pleasing moment of the game,” Westwood said. “I travelled to North district to watch him [play for Tai Po]. When you find someone who gets capped and scores, it’s a nice feeling for me and my staff. We spend a lot of time looking at players and making decisions.”
The most notable changes under Westwood have come in midfield, where the poised duo of Ngan Cheuk-pan and Wong Wai have been preferred to workhorses Philip Chan Siu-kwan and Wu Chun-ming.
One position where Westwood said he had “no decision to make”, however, was in goal, where Yapp Hung-fai won his 100th cap at the weekend.
“With his leadership skills and his professionalism, he is out on his own in our keeper ranks,” Westwood said. “He needs pressure, of course, [understudy] Tse Ka-wing has to keep impressing, work right, and conduct himself like Fai, before we would consider a change.”
Westwood was happy to laugh off a paltry attendance of 3,329, after a PA announcement mistakenly gave the figure as 4,426, as a consequence of the Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin.
“If we keep playing a nice brand of football and scoring goals, people will leave the stadium talking about how exciting it was and about the noise and atmosphere,” Westwood added.
“As word of mouth grows and we keep improving, I am sure the crowds will come. We will need the fans [against Chinese Taipei], hopefully we can top 5,000, then look to the final, if we get a good result.”
https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3290008/hong-kong-boss-ashley-westwood-says-fun-factor-key-resurgence-wants-see-more