FC Pune City would look to climb to the top of the table with a win when they take on Jamshedpur FC in a Hero Indian Super League match, here on Wednesday.
The Stallions come into this game on the back of a 3-0 win over defending champions ATK and have a chance to leapfrog to the top should they win at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.
FC Pune have 19 points from 11 games and are currently placed third behind Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC.
The tie will also the return of head coach Ranko Popovic to the touchline after serving a four-match ban.
"It was so much worse," said Popovic expressing his disappointment on missing the games.
"The coach has to be close to the field. But these kinds of things happen, and some things happen to bring something better."
Addressing the media on the eve of the tie, Popovic would have hoped for a fit set-up in his return match but that is not the case as a handful of Pune players are carrying a few niggles.
But the Serbian assured that he will not resort to rotating the squad unless it's necessary.
"If we make some rotation, we have some personal problems," Popovic said.
"I think the guys are prepared to play in continuity. I'm not for rotation unless it is necessary. We will see until tomorrow. Some players have small problems. Whoever will be in better shape will play," he added.
However, he the head coach confirmed that Ashique Kuruniyan will miss tomorrow's tie due to an injury.
"Aashique will not be ready for tomorrow. We must be careful because this is the third time in this short season that he is out, and this boy has some problem with his muscle," said Popovic.
Against a disciplined unit in Jamshedpur, Pune will have to bring their best to the table if they are to get anything out of the tie.
And Popovic sounded optimistic of his side's chances.
"Jamshedpur play the same style every game," he stated.
"The only thing that has changed is that they score the goals. Very compact, very disciplined team. It's very difficult to play against them. What we will do is we will try to take the lead against them, to bring them in our return."
Their previous tie also saw Pune's winter signings Marko Stankovic and Manuel Jesus make their Hero ISL debut. And the head coach was satisfied with what he saw against ATK.
"I hope they bring what we expected," he said.
"Both of them are very experienced players, they have played lot of important games. This is something that our boys need, especially the Indian boys. They play in international competitions," Popovic said.
neroca seek to remain unbeaten in I-league
Imphal: On a roll after a nine-match unbeaten streak in their debut season, Neroca FC will seek to continue their dream run and eye the top spot on the points table when they host struggling Shillong Lajong in an I-League eleven round match here on Wednesday.
Neroca have been a surprise package so far this season having lost just once in the 10 matches they have played and they are now in second spot with 21 points. Their only loss so far has come in their campaign opener against Minerva Punjab FC, the current leaders (with 22 points from nine matches), in Ludhinana on December 1.
Since then the Imphal-based side have won six matches and drawn three to make a big impact in this I-League. A win tomorrow at the Khuman Lampak Stadium where a capacity 30,000 crowd is expected to turn up will take them to the top spot for the first time.
They have also been an impressive side on the road having won four matches away from home, including their last game against defending champions Aizawl FC whom they beat 2-1 in a thrilling match in Aizawl.
Homegrown head coach Gift Raikhan has done a wonderful job so far with his squad which is made up of six foreigners and mostly Manipuri players. Except for Mizo midfielder David Lalbiakzara and goalkeeper Shambhu Mistry from Bengal, all the domestic players are from Manipur.
Neroca will start tomorrow's match as favourites as they have beaten the Shillong based side 1-0 in the first leg though Raikhan sought not to be carried away by the away win.
"In football, a coach or a player cannot predict the result of a match beforehand or by how many goals a team will win. We beat them 1-0 in their den and now we are playing at home," he said.
"But that does not guarantee that we will beat them again tomorrow. But for sure we have high expectations and we are confident of winning tomorrow," Raikhan, himself from Manipur, said.