Vasco, Dec 4: SC East Bengal will look to register their first win of the season when they take on NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League here on Saturday.
Coach Robbie Fowler’s side is yet to score in the league and has conceded five goals in its opening two fixtures. The team lost to ATK Mohun Bagan and Mumbai City FC and is languishing at the bottom of the points table.
The former Liverpool striker believes that it was individual errors that cost his side the points. “In all honesty, I will love to have them (more reinforcement) in all areas of the park. But I can’t complain because we have what we have. Individual errors have cost us,” Fowler said on the eve of the match against Northeast United.
Meanwhile, NorthEast will aim to carry on with their positive start to the season. Gerard Nus’ side won its opening match before being held to back-to-back draws. They have five points from three games and occupy the third sport.
“We want to compete. We are going in a good direction. We have to improve a lot. The goal for this season is to be competitive. We have to take one game at a time. We will do everything we can to win,” said Nus. One area of concern for Northeast United is scoring from open play. Three of the four goals that Highlanders have scored are from set-pieces.
“We are working to create chances from open play and set-pieces,” said Nus. Nus believes it will be a challenging task grabbing all three points against the Kolkata giants.
“We will not have only one plan. We are focussing on ourselves. We watched them play and they did not have the results they wanted. But they are going to be difficult and a threat to us. It will be a tough game. “We know how good they are with the ball.
They are well organised during set-pieces. We are going to stop them and create chances against them.
That’s the plan.
“We have many new faces. We have six foreign players and many Indians who are new. This is a short season.
We have established a plan since day one. We have started to bring in tactical ideas,” added Nus.
With both sides letting their opponents have most of the ball in their previous matches and preferring to attack on the counter, Saturday’s clash will make for interesting viewing. (PTI)
