SHILLONG: As Royal Wahingdoh FC gear up for their maiden I-League encounter here on Sunday, their head coach Santosh Kashyap is upbeat about the team’s prospects in the prestigious tournament.
The “good show” in the recently concluded Federation Cup, Kashyap says, has done wonders to the confidence of the boys ahead of the big league.
Wahingdoh which lost two of its four matches in the Federation Cup put up a brave show to beat Mumbai FC in their opening encounter. Later they held Dempo 1-1 in their last match of the tournament.
Kashyap, who is a familiar face in the State’s football circle, went on to say that the current Wahingdoh side is a much better unit than the Rangdajied United FC team which he mentored for a major part of the I-League last season.
Kashyap was relieved of his job as Rangdajied coach in the middle of the season last year due to the team’s indifferent performance in the league at that stage.
“(Wahingdoh) players are more dedicated, disciplined and talented,” he said during a press conference here on Thursday adding that as first timers in the Federation Cup, most of the boys did an excellent job.
Kashyap, however, refused to set a target for season end ahead of the tournament. “We don’t want to put pressure on the boys…we will see how things shape up,” he said.
The former Mohun Bagan coach said that the focus would be on playing attractive and result oriented football.
Wahingdoh, which has retained most of its players from the second division I-League, will be led by Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Densill Theobald.
Theobald asserted that his side “has a bright future”. Meanwhile, Wahingdoh star Jakiechand Singh was also confident of carrying his good form to the I-League.
“The experience in Federation Cup has helped and I am confident of being able to put up a good show n the I-League,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Wahingdoh management informed that the team would soon have a sponsor to back them and the deal could be finalized by the time the Royals play their second or third match of the tournament.
