Shillong, March 13: East Bengal will host Shillong Lajong FC in what will be a crucial encounter in the 21st round of the I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on 14thMarch, 2014 at 5:00 PM. The match will be aired live on Ten Action.
Shillong Lajong FC have come off a satisfactory display in Pune where they drew 2-2 against Pune FC. A key positive from that game was the performance of Uilliams Souza Silva who found the net twice and is looking to play a key role again in the match against The Red and Gold on Friday.
Speaking on the issue Lajong Coach Thangboi Singto said, “Uilliams is in scoring touch now after netting three goals from three games played. All the team members have also given 100% which I’m happy about. We need to play as a team to win.”
Shillong Lajong have not had the best performance after their Federation Cup campaign after earning only two points from their last three games. The results have made the game against East Bengal a very important fixture given the context of both the teams’ positions in the I-League table.
Thangboi Singto added, “We have to win to stay in the hunt for top 5. We need to take the pressure positively and translate into a winning performance.”
East Bengal on the other hand are only 2 points behind The Reds with three games in hand to their advantage. The Kolkata side have played 4 I-League games after the Federation Cup and have only won once out of four games. The win came against their Kolkata rivals Mohammedan Sporting with goals from Edeh Chidi and James Moga. Armando Colaco was satisfied with his team’s performance against Mohammedan especially the match winning performances from Shylo Mawswamtulunga and Edeh Chidi.
East Bengal however might miss the towering presence of Uga Okpara who was taken off after 33 minutes in the Kolkata Derby. Colaco said, “I think Uga will be out for the season. The way it looks, it is serious.”
Shillong Lajong also have an injury concern with Cornell Glen as coach Thangboi Singto stated, “Glen has a slight injury but hopefully he will play. We will make the final call tomorrow morning.”
Both teams find themselves in a must win situation in order to better their standings in the I-League this season and will look to capitalise on the top 5 finish as well.(SP News)
