MARGAO: Injury hit Salgaocar Football Club take on Royal Wahingdoh FC in a second round encounter of the Hero I-League, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, here, on Friday. The kick-off is at 5.30 p.m.
Whilst The Greens came back strongly in the second 45 minutes in the opener against Pune FC to hold The Red Lizards to a 1-1 draw, newly promoted Royal Wahingdoh FC made a winning start to the campaign on their I-League debut having got the better of Shillong Lajong FC 2-1 in the Shillong derby.
Both sides however, go into the game with injuries to key players, Salgaocar being far worse hit. Saran Singh who suffered an abdominal strain in the last encounter is unlikely to be fit in time and adds to an already long injury list that includes Scottish striker Darryl Duffy, Dawson Fernandes, goalkeeper Karanjit Singh and Umesh Harijan.
“Injuries are part of the game and we will have to make do with the resources available. Royal Wahingdoh play an attacking brand of football and it should be a good game of football. We will however look to try and win all three points given that we are playing at home”, remarked Salgaocar FC head coach Derrick Pereira.
Coach Santosh Kashyap praising The Greens exclaimed, “Teams coached by Derrick are always hard to beat. They are always very compact in defence.”
Whilst the mutual admiration was visible at the pre-match conference held at the Nehru Stadium, on Wednesday, both coaches will look to clinch three crucial points early on in the season, given that this year’s edition shall consist of only 20 rounds as opposed to the 26 last year.
Coincidentally, whilst Salgaocar FC captain and long serving midfielder, Rocus Lamare has donned Wahingdoh colours as a teenager, the Wahingdoh skipper, Denzil Theobald has had a 2-year stint in Goa with the Golden Eagles.
