Humble Lion have once again achieved the feat of securing a semi-final spot in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL). But Coach Vassell Reynolds is not satisfied and is backing his charges to go one step further.

The Clarendon-based team’s technical director just missed out on a final spot last season after barely losing to eventual champions Arnett Gardens over two legs.

And despite not having the best attacking home record in this the 2015/16 season, Humble Lion are ranked as the second best defensive team overall and the fourth best at home.

Reynolds cited these as factors to be taken into consideration when they host a well-oiled Portmore United outfit in the first leg semi-final fixture at Effortville tomorrow.

“We recognise that this is not about the coach, it is about the club and that has helped the situation a lot. One of the things that we have done as a team (is that) we have worked on our finishing, it was really a concern, but I had every confidence that we would have gotten it right at the right time,” Reynolds told journalists during Thursday’s RSPL press conference at Red Stripe’s base on Spanish Town Road.

“We are not there completely, but we are improving, and not withstanding that, one of the things that would have helped us is our defensive work and we tried to strike a balance and try to keep our defensive part of our game working and spend a little more time on finishing,” he added.

Even though they ended fourth on 50 points in the preliminary round, Humble Lion will enter the semi-final as the most consistent team having orchestrated a four-game unbeaten run, including three consecutive wins on last.

“Our form line is a big positive heading into the semi-final and our players are easily motivated. In fact I believe they are self-motivated for this one, especially going up against one of our main rivals and we are really hoping that we can use this momentum to have the advantage.

“It is all about playing as a team, I think one of the things that we talk about is that when we go up against a good defensive team like a Portmore, our tactical awareness has to be present. Our possession game is one thing that we are working on because we are going up against a good tactical team, so we have to be ready for 90 minutes,” he told the

Jamaica Observer.

Reynolds believes that his introduction, coupled with injuries, contributed to the team’s sub-standard run of form at the top of the preliminary round, which they eventually ended with 13 wins, 11 draws and nine losses from 33 games.

“I thought our inconsistency at the start of the season may have been due to the fact that I was new to the project and I would have brought some new ideas to the board which it may have taken them (players) a little while to adapt to the changes.

“Also, the fact that we have injuries on a consistent basis, but the hope is to have everybody physically and mentally ready as possible come Sunday,” he noted.

And while Portmore United are equipped with a depth in their squad, Humble Lion possess a level of quality and experience of their own in the likes of Wolry Wolfe, Levaughn Williams, Ricardo Cousins, Francois Swaby and Devon Hodges, among others.

The rivalry between both teams intensified gradually earlier this year following a board room squabble when Humble Lion was cited to have breached regulations for use of an ineligible player against Portmore United.

Portmore United subsequently gained three points from the fixture when the Clarendon-based team was said to have utilised the player whose free agent status had not yet been in effect.

However, Reynolds admits that the issue was viewed as a source of motivation for the team to achieve the first of its two-tier objective.

“One of the things that I have tried to emphasise since I was there was ask the senior players to lead from the front. We had a discussion with them that they need to impact the game a bit more with their experience and quality.

“When we lost the three points, we sat down and we recognised that it was something that might have pushed us to dig a little deeper and we went on a good run. So it did affect us for a while, but we viewed it as a positive and we put it behind us and we are happy we did that,” he noted.