SINGAPORE — After a five-day overseas centralised training camp, V Sundramoorthy’s charges are heading into the final phase of their AFF Suzuki Cup preparations in a positive mood.

The Lions returned from Doha, Qatar on Sunday and will depart this morning across the Causeway to take on Syria in a friendly in Negeri Sembilan tomorrow. It will be their second-last warm-up game — they will take on Cambodia at Bishan Stadium on Sunday — before they start their Suzuki Cup campaign on Nov 19 against the Philippines.

“Everything was smooth,” Sundram said of the trip before yesterday’s evening training session at Geylang Field. “I think team bonding was the key; tactically, we worked on some of the areas we needed to, and the players just need to have a (better) understanding of their roles.”

At No 124, the Philippines are the highest Fifa-ranked team in the Suzuki Cup and Sundram said that Syria, ranked 96th, will serve as good preparation. “We are facing a strong opponent, something similar to the Philippines, who are also quite strong,” he explained.

With one draw and four defeats in their last five matches, Sundram also wants to see Singapore take the fight to Syria and try to secure a positive result. Syria have run out winners in their last three meetings, although Singapore did pull off a famous 2-1 home win in Asian Cup qualifying in 2013.

“For us, it is to make sure we go out there and put up a good performance,” the former international said. “I feel that in every area, we must compete with them. Secondly, it is to try to win the game.”

While Sundram was pleased with his players’ work-rate, he acknowledged they need to start finding the back of the net, having scored just twice in their last five games.

However, the 51-year-old is not overly worried about their lacklustre results, noting that the performances against Malaysia (0-0) and Hong Kong (2-0 loss) were “very good”.

“We approach every game with a winning mentality ... as long as the performance is good, the results will come,” he said.

The competition to make the final 23-man squad is also heating up, with the shortlist to be decided after the Cambodia friendly.

“We have more or less an idea (of the final team) but it also depends on injuries and what happens in (the last two) games,” he said. “The players are in a very positive mood and everybody is fighting for their places.”

Wide man Hafiz Sujad added: “Everybody is on their toes and every training is important right now. Every game is a chance to show Coach what we have and we are focused on the job.” TEO TENG KIAT