Robert Jarni: Lalengmawia is our best player at this moment

The NorthEast United boss also had kind words for Ninthoinganba Meetei as well.

NorthEast United face Jamshedpur FC in an inconsequential league game at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on Monday evening. Ahead of the game, the Highlanders' head coach Robert Jarni interacted in the pre-match press conference on Sunday.

Both NorthEast United and Jamshedpur FC are out of the race for the playoffs, which effectively makes the game a dead rubber. However, Robert Jarni revealed that he wants nothing less than a win from his side on Monday night. “Yes there is no pressure on both the teams tomorrow, but I want to have some pressure in a good sense because if there is no motivation then we can’t win. Last game we didn’t play well and we drew but we want to play well and win tomorrow,” he began.

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Andy Keogh, NorthEast United's new winter signing was quizzed about his time so far in the country as he revealed, “India so far has been a great experience for me. But unfortunately it’s not the case on the pitch because we haven’t played like the way we want to. But in terms of the environment, the coaching staff and the players it’s been great and it’s always a pleasure to be around the guys.”

The 33-year-old is leading the line of a team that has not scored in the last five games. Keogh sounded optimistic that the drought would soon be broken, “Obviously it’s disappointing to not score a goal for sometime. It’s clear that to win we need to score as much as possible. Hopefully tomorrow the first goal will come and the floodgates will open."

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In a disappointing season, the performances of Lalengmawia have been a silver lining for the Highlanders. Robert Jarni was full of praise for the promising Mizo midfielder as he said, “In the beginning of the season in the training sessions I noticed that he is a player who has all the qualities to be a regular in the starting XI. He has since proved me right and definitely at this moment Mawia is our best player and he’s only 19."

“I also think Ninthoi is a great talent too. Both of them have big futures not just at this club but also for the Indian National Team. So it is important that they are developed well,” Robert Jarni concluded.

Team News

Provat Lakra and Nikhil Kadam are out for the season with the injuries they sustained in the previous game.

Head To Head

Both teams have met five times previously with four games ending as draws. Jamshedpur FC have won once against NorthEast United, whereas the Highlanders are  yet to register a win against the Men of Steel.

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Probable Lineup

Subhasish (GK), Reagan, Heerings, Komorski, Pradhan, Gallego, Lalengmawia, Milan, Ninthoi, Lundevall, Keogh

Broadcast

The game will commence from 7:30 PM IST, Monday. It will be telecast live on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD. It will also be available to stream on Hotstar and Jio TV.