With one point from the opening two home fixtures against Pune FC and Royal Wahingdoh, The Greens will look to get their campaign back on track with three crucial points. Mohun Bagan on the other hand beat Mumbai FC in their only outing so far.
The two sides last met in the Federation Cup only a couple of weeks ago, with Salgaocar FC having outplayed their opponents 4-1 on that occasion after having conceded first. The Greens will be banking on their outstanding performers on that day, goalkeeper Subrata Paul and Ivorian midfielder Douhou Pierre to out in another master class if they are to emerge victorious today.
Injuries to key players including striker Darryl Duffy continue to be coach Derrick Pereira’s biggest nightmare. “We will be starting with the same 11 that started in the last match against Royal Wahingdoh as our players nursing injuries are yet to recover”, the gaffer remarked at the pre-match conference, on Tuesday at the venue.
On being asked whether he’d be tempted to make some drastic changes should his side not emerge victorious in the clash tomorrow, the gaffer replied, “We will not press the panic button just yet though, these are early stages of the league. It is important on focussing on getting the basics right and things do fall into place eventually. Football is cyclical, you have the highs and the lows”, he went on to add.
“Salgaocar are a good side and they beat us comprehensively in the Federation Cup. However, we faced a similar problem in the Federation Cup to the one being faced by Salgaocar currently and that is finding the back of the net. We played very attractive football through the Federation Cup but couldn’t score goals and unfortunately you cannot merely survive playing good football”, remarked his counterpart Sanjoy Sen.
The match will be telecast live on TEN Action, at 4.30 p.m.
