Team Herald
VASCO: Churchill Brothers FC and Chennai City FC head into the penultimate round of the I-League as the two lock horns at the Tilak Maidan, Vasco, on Saturday.
Level on points, Chennai City have been unbeaten in their last five I-League matches but Churchill Brothers on their own home turf is a different proposition.
“Churchill have managed three big victories at their home and we should be very careful about them. Anyway, we would settle for a draw but we don’t want to lose the match. We will go all out and since both are on same points, we want to take points out of this game. If we win, then we will qualify for the Federation Cup,” Chennai City Coach Rajan said.
Both teams are on 17 points from 16 matches although Churchill Brothers are at the sixth spot, two rungs above the visitors due to a superior goal difference.
If qualification for the Federation Cup was not enough motivation, the prospect of playing in Goa which has a special place in Indian football is something that the entire Chennai City FC squad is looking forward to.
“Playing in Goa and against such a historic club like Churchill Brothers is the greatest opportunity for the club and it is great for the players especially we have a lot of young players. It will be a great moment for them,” Rajan explained.
As far as Churchill Brothers are concerned, the Derrick Pereira coached side will look to bounce back from their 1-3 defeat at home against joint league leaders Aizawl FC in their last match.
“We had a bad match last time against Aizawl but we have worked on it and the players who missed that match are back and we will give our best and hopefully get three points,” Pereira said.
Crucially for Churchill Brothers, their defensive mainstay Rowilson Rodrigues, who missed the tie against Aizawl, is expected to play on Saturday.
Chennai City FC meanwhile, will miss the services of a few players, most notably Denson Devadas, Nanda Kumar and K. Prasanth. Match will be telecast live on Ten 2.
