After suffering a shocking 0-3 defeat in their last I-League match against Indian Arrows, Shillong Lajong FC will hope to salvage some pride when they take on Chennai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.
After seven matches, Shillong Lajong are currently in the fourth position with 10 points while Chennai City are seated eighth.
Shillong Lajong coach Bobby Nongbet made it clear that the team is looking for nothing less than a win against their opponents tomorrow.
"We are heading into the match with the hope of winning another three points. We can understand that the task will not be easy but we have all worked very hard for this," said Nongbet in the pre-match press conference at Shillong.
"We obviously have a game plan worked out but we will have to see what happens tomorrow," said the Lajong coach.
Meanwhile, Nongbet divulged that Kenstar Kharshong will be replacing central defender Juho Oh who has been forced to sit out for the upcoming game due to injury.
After a revitalising 2-1 victory against football giants Mohun Bagan, a motivated Chennai City FC is heading into the match with renewed confidence.
After getting off to a shaky start during their initial matches, Chennai City FC look like they have finally gained the momentum they need to carry them forward in the I-League.
"Winning against Mohun Bagan was a big achievement for us but none of that will matter if we lose to Lajong in tomorrow's game", said Chennai City FC coach V. Soundararajan.
Chennai City will also be without midfielder Pradeep Mohanraj who was given the marching order against Mohun Bagan but the Chennai City coach is fairly confident in his team's capabilities.
"Mohun Bagan is a very organised team and beating them has automatically raised our confidence", said Soundararajan.
Chennai City FC goalkeeper Uros Poljanec, who earned the Hero of the Match award against East Bengal in their first home match, chipped in, "We will do our best to achieve good results. It is a very important game for us. We simply must go forward and collect points."
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)