SHILLONG/Kolkata: Fresh from their upset win over Dempo, giant-killers Pailan Arrows will look to maintain their fine run when they face Prayag United in a 24th round I-League fixture at Kalyani Stadium on Friday.
This match is significant for Shillong Lajong FC, as the Arrows are one point ahead of the Reds (23 to 22, respectively).
Pailan have played one less match, however.
“The spirit of the team is high after beating a big side like Dempo,” Arrows Australian coach, Arthur Papas said about their 2-0 win against the defending champions five days ago.
“This has taken the team morale to a new height and I hope we continue with the same momentum.
“Our performance has been consistently good so far. Our boys have shown a lot of improvement, which is evident in the way we performed against the big names of the tournament,” Papas added.
But it would be interesting to see how the youthful side tackles the opposition boasting a star-studded foreign line-up in Ranty Martins and Bello Rasaq.
“Our opponents tomorrow have some good players and we have to be watchful against them. We need to focus on our strengths to make a match out of it,” he said.
The Arrows are currently placed in 10th with 23 points from 22 matches and a win will give them a promotion up the standings.
Smarting from a 0-1 loss to Salgaocar, Prayag will look forward to the return of Martins and Rasaq, who missed the previous round because of suspension.
“This will strengthen our attack and defence,” their coach Eelco Schattori said.
Subrata Pal is likely to start under the bar for Prayag as regular goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee is injured.
Prayag are currently placed fourth in the League with 35 points from 23 matches.
Meanwhile, Mumbai FC players and support staff arrived in Shillong on Thursday ahead of their I-League match against home team Lajong on Sunday at the JN Stadium, Polo.
The match will start at 5:00pm under lights.
This will be Shillong Lajong’s last home match of the season.
SLFC will then play two away matches to round off their 2012-2013 campaign.
Tickets for Sunday’s match go on sale from Friday in various locations in Shillong and further afield.
The prices of the tickets are in the range of Rs 80-Rs 300.
The match is a crucial one for the home team as they are in 11th position, without that many points separating Lajong from Mohun Bagan and Air India below them.
The latter two teams have also played less matches than Lajong, so they could leapfrog the Shillong club and send them into the relegation zone.
Mohun Bagan will face Air India on Saturday in Kolkata.
Mumbai are sitting fairly comfortably in eighth place with 30 points.
They suffered a 2-3 loss away to Mohun Bagan in their last match.
Shillong Lajong have, on the other hand, drawn their last three matches, including last Sunday’s fixture at home to ONGC.
They have not won since February 2 against bottom club United Sikkim at home. (with PTI inputs)