Not chasing the table, says Santosh Kashyap
SHILLONG: Dislodged from the top of the standings by Mohun Bagan on Friday, Royal Wahingdoh FC will look to tame Pune FC in its own den to regain the table-toppers position in a Round 8 Hero I-League game at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Saturday.
Considering the closeness in the points tally as far as the top half of the table is concerned, the outcome of the match will be crucial for the Royals who are at 13 points, a point behind Bagan and one point ahead of Pune. The result of Saturday’s game can go a long way in defining the rest of the season for both RWFC and Pune.
On the eve of the encounter, RWFC coach Santosh Kashyap said the morale of the team is very high and the boys will go for a “positive result”.
Kashyap made it clear that his side is not chasing the table and would look to play good-quality, attractive and fair football.
“We would like to improve our performance with every game,” he said.
While the Royals are by now known to create surprises against any opponent on a given day, they would have to be doubly careful at the back to deny the hosts any scoring opportunities.
Pune have only scored once in the last three games and the Royals would look to restrict the hosts from letting loose.
While Jackichand Singh is fit to play on Saturday, Naoba and Govin will miss out. Bekay, meanwhile, is another doubtful starter and a final decision on his inclusion will be taken before the match.
The Royals have had a successful season so far with four wins from seven games. Going into the game after a 1-2 loss against Mumbai FC in the previous round, the Royals will be looking to bounce bank and will once again depend on their overseas players, Densil Theobald, Loveday Okechukwu and Kim Seong-Yong besides home grown players like Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh who have been in the thick of action and have delivered more than once for the I-League debutants.
The Pune team, meanwhile, would be keen to upturn their woeful run of results. The Karim Bencherifa-coached side has been winless since the last three games and would look to turn the tables when they take on the North East side on Saturday.