TEAM HERALD

sports@herald-goa.com

MARGAO: Churchill Bros will face Pune FC in the fourth round I-League football encounter at Shiv Chatrapati Sports Complex, Maharashtra.

font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; text-align: justify; ">Churchill Bros have put behind the opening day reversal against Dempo after recording comfortable victories over ONGC and Mumbai FC and coach Mariano Dias is expecting the trend to continue in their first away match of the campaign against Pune. "We have to maintain this run. It is a very crucial match as our opponents have lost the last match and they will come back hard at us. We have done our preparations and the boys are eager to perform in the same vein and win,” explained Mariano after a gruelling practice session. Pune FC are always a dangerous opponents at their home ground but with their Lebanese duo of striker Akram Moghrabi and stopper-back Bilal Najarine in excellent form Mariano expect to garner full points. “Both of them have really settled well, and I can say that their performance has been very satisfying. The goals scored by Akram have been wonderful. We have worked well as a team and all the players have worked hard to get us back to winning ways. The tie against Pune will be tricky but I hope we will continue to win matches," Mariano said before disclosing that all his players are fit for the match.

“We lost to Dempo because we missed many opportunities but the boys have put the defeat behind. In the last two matches we have converted the chances and hopefully we maintain the momentum,” said Mariano.

Churchill Bros will leave for Pune on Thursday.