TRAU look to continue the momentum, Kenkre face Churchill Brothers

TRAU play Sudeva Delhi with an eye on third place and Churchill target getting back to winning ways against Kenkre.

Following back-to-back victories at home, TRAU are now in the capital to face Hero I-League’s bottom-side Sudeva Delhi at the Chhatrasal Stadium on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, with the kick-off slated for 2 pm IST.

In their previous game on Sunday, Sudeva Delhi were close to pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season. Up against the league leaders Sreenidi Deccan at their turf, the Delhi outfit led for the majority of the game up until the 70th minute before the hosts rallied to comprehensively win 3-1.

Sankarlal Chakraborty wants his team to move on

Addressing the media at the I-League pre-match press conference, Sudeva Delhi head coach Sankarlal Chakraborty said, “Games like these happen in football. It is something we have to accept and move on with. Our focus now is on the next game.”

To Chakraborty’s credit, Sudeva Delhi have shown clear signs of improvement in recent games. Before going toe-to-toe with Sreenidi in Hyderabad, Sudeva ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Mumbai Kenkre in a crucial survival battle. In their last home game at the Chhatrasal Stadium, the capital side held title contenders RoundGlass Punjab to a 1-1 draw.

Sharing his thoughts on Wednesday’s opponents from Imphal, Chakraborty said, “TRAU are a good team. They defeated us 0-2 in the reverse fixture. We have to think and continue the way we have been playing in our last few matches. We have to stop conceding goals, that’s a priority.”

Red Pythons' away travails

TRAU are currently placed fourth on the I-League tableand that’s largely due to their excellent home form. Their recent wins against Churchill Brothers (3-2) and Aizawl (3-1) are an example of that. However, away from home, the Red Pythons have managed to win just two games in eight attempts.

“Playing away from home has been difficult for us, so we have to be cautious,” said TRAU head coach Leimapokpam Nandakumar Singh.

“I have high respect for Sudeva. They have played well, but have been unlucky with the results. Given their situation, I believe they will put up a fighting display tomorrow and we have to be ready,” he added.

Though TRAU had an easy outing when these two sides met in Imphal in the first week of January, Nandakumar believes the current Sudeva side is a much different one with new additions and a better form. Talking about the individuals in the Sudeva squad, the Indian coach said, “Alexis (Gomez) is really good with the ball. His technique of receiving, delivering and holding the ball is great, so we have to be cautious when he’s in possession. Even the young strikers of Sudeva are full of energy. They are fighters, and our defenders will have to be alert.“

Contrasting fortunes for Churchill and Kenkre

When Churchill Brothers take on Mumbai Kenkre FC here at the Tilak Maidan on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, the latter will have more to gain from a victory. The hosts are comfortably sitting in mid-table in the I-League with 26 points from 18 matches. At the same time, there is no real danger of being relegated. But the scenario is different for Akhil Kothari’s men. Of late there has been palpable improvement in their performance and now they are just four points behind Rajasthan United FC. If they are able to bridge that gap, they can move out of relegation zone.

What gives hope to Kenkre coach Kothari is the fact that even though they have only managed two draws in the last five matches, since the turn of the year, his boys have stunned leaders Sreenidi Deccan 2-1 and held joint leaders RoundGlass Punjab FC 3-3. Had they not squandered chances aplenty, including a penalty, in the last match, the situation would have been already better. The forced substitution of Samandar Ochilov in the first half due to injury harmed the team’s chances. Since the coach said there are no injury problems now, he can hope for a better performance from his team on Wednesday.

Akhil Kothari's pre-match thoughts

Talking to the media on Tuesday, Kothari said, “It’s an important game for us. Churchill are seasoned opponents but we’re going to be more focused on what we want to achieve from the game tomorrow. We’ll try to pick up maximum points. We have improved on a day-to-day basis from the last time we played Churchill. So in tomorrow’s game, we’ll be more prepared to face the challenge.”

These two teams had played out a 1-1 draw at Cooperage Stadium in Mumbai earlier in the season. Now that Mumbai Kenkre are an improved side, the job will not be easy for Churchill Brothers. Despite having attackers with the calibre of Abdoulaye Sane and Emmanuel Yaghr, the Red Machines have also been guilty of not converting chances. That has contributed to their mediocre show this season. The last two games have given ample evidence of that. They lost 2-3 to TRAU, then 0-1 to Gokulam Kerala.

That is why Churchill assistant coach Mateus Costa said on match eve, “We played well in the last two matches, but we did not have enough left in us to register a win. So this time we have to go all out for a win.”

As it will be Churchill’s last I-League match at home this season, he thanked the fans for backing the team throughout the season and appealed to them to come in large numbers on the morrow and support the team one last time.

The match will be telecast live on Eurosport, DD Sports and Discovery Plus OTT platform from 4.30 pm.