Royals seek to replace Bengaluru at No. 2 spot

SHILLONG: Sitting pretty at No. 3 in the standings, a confident Royal Wahingdoh FC will take on defending champions Bengaluru FC in a Hero I-League match at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday in what promises to be a fascinating tie.
A win will take the Royals at least to the second spot in the standings.
The last time the two sides met, Bengaluru had inflicted the first defeat of the season to the Royals drubbing them 4-0 in Shillong. However, the North East side has moved on since then and has travelled from strength to strength. The visitors are a more confident lot now and come to the match with two wins on the trot. The Royals beat Pune FC 2-0 at home and followed it up with a 1-0 victory over East Bengal cementing themselves in the third spot in the process.
Though both sides are sitting at 20 points each at the moment, having won, drawn and lost the same number of games, Bengaluru are at the second spot in the standings by virtue of their win over the Royals earlier in the season.
Coach Santosh Kashyap, who had said that his side is ready to challenge for the title, stated that the Royals are more organized now and have improved in all aspects of the game and would certainly go for a win on Friday.
“The boys are well prepared (for the tie) and we are a confident lot. We will try to get full three points tomorrow,” Kashyap said on the eve of the encounter against Bengaluru.
Kashyap also dismissed speculations that his side is still haunted by the loss against Bengaluru.  “It was long back and we have moved on. We are much more organised now and playing quality football. The players are confident and we are on a very good run,” he said.
The Royals would once again bank on the brilliance of the likes of Jackichand Singh, Densill Theobald and Bekay Bawar among others to take them through besides looking forward to Loveday to keep things under control at the back.
All in all an exciting clash is in the offing when the two sides, one a defending champion and the other an I-League newbie on song, lock horns on Friday.
The match will be live on Ten Action from 7 PM.