Buoyed by its first win of the season, defending champion Chennaiyin FC will look to continue the resurgence when it takes on host Jamshedpur FC in a Hero ISL fixture at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here on Sunday. The visitors are coming off a 18-day break when it dominated FC Pune City at the latter’s home on November 6.
The hosts too visited Pune City in their last assignment. While Chennaiyin FC regained its winning touch with a 4-2 verdict, the Steel City side succumbed to its first loss of the tournament losing 2-1.
Chennaiyin suffered five loses and a draw before picking up its first win in its seventh game, while JFC won two matches, managed five draws and the one loss in eight matches.
While JFC’s head coach Cesar Ferrando has knit together a nice combination playing possession-based football, the number of draws should be keeping the Spaniard worried.
Tim Cahill, who played his testimonial game for Australia this week, has returned to strengthen the hosts. However, attacking midfielder Sergio Cidoncha has returned to Spain after picking up a knee injury.
“Sergio has ACL injury and we have lost him until January. We have (Michael) Soosairaj, (Pablo) Morgado and (Carlos) Calvo who can play in his position. To me team is important. We have to continue playing and play well,” said Ferrando.
Chennaiyin’s head coach John Gregory insisted on maintaining momentum while hoping that the team’s attack, where an off-form Jeje Lalpekhlua is not contributing much, comes good.
“We come here probably not as strong as we were last season and Jamshedpur is probably more stronger. We are definitely not taking the match lightly,” Gregory said ahead of the match.