John Gregory rues Chennaiyin's lack of goalscorers, Ruwan Kumara eyes history

The hosts have had a poor domestic season with poor goalscoring form.

Chennaiyin FC host Sri Lankan side Colombo FC in the second leg of their AFC Cup Qualifier at the Transstadia Arena, in Ahmedabad. The first leg between these two sides ended in a goalless draw in Colombo. The game assures a high-voltage drama given that stakes are so high.

The two coaches met the media before the game.

Coach's Corner

John Gregory (Chennaiyin FC)

John Gregory was asked about the morale of the dressing room after a disappointing ISL season. He replied, "We are professionals, we need to work together. The season has been very poor for us, but the dressing room in confident of qualifying for the group stages of the AFC Cup and also doing a good job in the Super Cup."

He praised the facilities of the stadium by saying, "The facilities are fantastic here. There is a good pitch and good climate. It is a good place to play football."

He also raised concerns about a lack of goalscorers this season. He stated, "We lacked goalscorers this season. Jeje (Lalpekhlua) was the top scorer for us last season, but this season he has been going through poor form and that sums up our season."

On whether he'll change his decision to leave the club if they perform well in the AFC Cup and Super Cup, he said, "No I've decided to move out after the current season and I'll not change my decision. I definitely would like to bow out on a high note."

Ruwan Kumara (Colombo FC)

Ruwan started off by saying, "We are very confident going into the second leg. We had a great result back home and hope to win tomorrow."

Colombo will become the first team from Sri Lanka, to play in the group stage if they manage to win the match against the Chennai side. On this he stated, "If we win the game, it will be great for our club, our country and certainly the popularity of the game will increase. The population of our country is small, so it would be a big boost to the country's football fraternity."

When asked about how the club has improved since they lost to Mohun Bagan two seasons ago he said, "It's a process. We won the domestic league three times in a row and now we've held Chennaiyin at home. Hopefully, we can beat them tomorrow and qualify for the group stage."

 ALSO READ

• FC Goa progress to final after 5-2 aggregate win over Mumbai City

• Chennaiyin FC held to a goalless draw in Colombo

• Chennaiyin FC Vs Chennai City: How the tables have turned this season

Team News

Chennaiyin FC

Chennaiyin have their full squad available for the crunch game.

Colombo FC

The Sri Lankan side have a fully fit squad.

Probable Lineups

Chennaiyin FC

Karanjit, Renthelei, Sabia, Mailson, Tondonba, Issac, Thapa, Augusto, Germanpreet, Vineeth, Jeje.

Colombo FC

Lakpriya, Addevu, Mohamed, Fasal, Seka, Charitha, Dimtri, Aakib, Eranga, Chameera, Puslas, Niran.

Do You Know?

• Indian sides have a 100% record of winning the qualifiers of the AFC Cup.
• No Sri Lankan side has ever qualified for group stages of the AFC Cup.
• Transstadia Arena will be hosting such a big event for the first time after hosting Santosh Trophy Qualifiers and the home games of second division I-League side ARA FC.

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Broadcast

The kickoff of the game is scheduled at 7:30 PM IST and it won't be telecast on TV. However, it will be streamed on Chennaiyin FC's official Facebook page.