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Churchill Brothers who gave a good account of themselves in their opening day defeat to Mohun Bagan in the I-League 2016-17, will look to capitalise on home advantage against Mumbai FC at the Tilak Maidan in Vasco on Sunday.
The fans of the Red Machines will get to see the former I-League champions in action as they look to kick-start their campaign with a positive result against Santosh Kashyap’s men.
The Goan club are still not at their full strength as they are yet to recruit the players in their foreign quota. But there is good news for the team as Trinidad and Tobago striker Anthony Wolfe has joined the club and is sure to bolster the squad in the attacking department.
Meanwhile, Alfred Fernandes continues to be in charge of the team as the expected arrival of head coach Joseph Afusi is delayed indefinitely. The Goan tactician is confident that the arrival of Wolfe will give the necessary firepower for Churchill Brothers.
“In the match against Mohun Bagan, we were lacking in firepower. Wolfe is available tomorrow and hopefully, tomorrow will be a good day in the office for us. Of course, it is very important for us as it is our home match,” coach Alfred Fernandes said.
The club have also been bolstered by the addition of three Indian players in Fulganco Cardozo, Richard Costa and Quan Gomes but they won’t be available for selection against the Mumbai side.
Meanwhile, Santosh Kashyap will be a happy man as his side are coming on the back of a morale-boosting victory against DSK Shivajians FC in the Maharashtra derby. Kashyap’s men will be looking to carry on their momentum in their first assignment away from home this season.
“We have shown in our last match that in spite of having all Indian players, against a very strong team, we never defended and we were winning. I believe in attacking football and we’ll continue to play my way,” Kashyap emphasised.
As Churchill Brothers are yet to open their account, coach Alfred feels that the first priority would be to avoid defeat.
“My philosophy in coaching is that a point is a must first and three points is always a bonus. So if they don’t give us a chance to score, then we also won’t allow them to score. A point is important first and then we go for the three points,” he said.
And Alfred can take heart from the fact that the players who are already in the squad have put in some lion-hearted performances against Mohun Bagan. Skipper Keenan Almeida led from the front despite suffering a bruise on the head while debutant Kingslee Fernandes walked away with the Hero of the match performance.
“It takes guts for a boy to go out there and prove it. He was brilliant and hopefully he can continue with the same vein of form,” the Goan tactician said about young Kingslee.
The only doubt for Churchill Brothers is defender Adil Khan and Alfred is expected to take a call on the defender on match day while the rest of the squad are available for selection.
The match is slated to kick-off at 4:30pm tomorrow, January 15 and it’ll be telecast live on TEN 2.
by I-League Media
