Imphal: On a sweet run of four games, table-toppers East Bengal will aim to continue it’s winning momentum when that face debutants Neroca FC at the Khuman Lampak Stadium on Saturday.
Both the sides come into the match on the back convincing wins but East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil is among those who look into the past, instead he emphasised, “Our sole focus is nothing but tomorrow’s Neroca FC match.”
Beginning with a loss the Manipuri outfit are but on an unbeaten streak of four matches just like their opponents on Friday and Jamil praised his foe. “This match is very crucial, Neroca FC are also in very good form,” he said.
He also reserved little praise for the foreign recruits for their persistent football but at the same time reiterated, “We have our own strategy in place to overcome Neroca FC.”
But Neroca head coach Gift Raikhan countered Jamil’s tactics comment by saying, “We have our own strategy for tomorrow’s match and now it’s time to implement them on the pitch.”
Crediting his boys for that hard fought draw against Mohun Bagan in their last fixture he added that this match will be very important more so because “the team will play like do or die for the sake of the people of Manipur.”
“Tomorrow’s match will be very difficult, and also will be a very entertaining match, the home crowd will witness one of the best I-league matches tomorrow,” added the Neroca gaffer.
He also said that the draw against Bagan will give them added confidence and that might just be enough for a young team.
“East Bengal is a very good team but Neroca FC is not less, it is completely our credit that we had drawn with Mohun Bagan and it gives us more confident to meet East Bengal tomorrow.”
The Kolkata giants may be on top of the table with 13 points from six matches but Neroca is not far behind. Three points separate the two sides but the ‘People’s Club’ have one game at hand and this might be just the game that Raikhan predicts may ‘swirl the table around.’