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Sixth-placed Aizawl FC will lock horns against seventh-placed NEROCA at the Mohun Bagan Ground in Kolkata on Saturday, January 30 in a mid-table clash as crucial points are on the line for both contingents.
The match will be streamed live on the 1Sports Facebook page and the kick-off is slated for 2pm IST.
Both Aizawl FC and NEROCA had performances to forget in their respective recent games. While Aizawl FC played out a 1-1 draw against the Indian Arrows, NEROCA were battered 1-4 by Gokulam Kerala FC. Looking to put their woes behind, both contingents would aim to grab points off the other in an attempt to propel themselves into the top half of the I-League table.
Speaking at the official pre-match press conference, Aizawl FC head coach Yan Law said, “We learnt a good lesson in the 1-1 draw against Indian Arrows. It taught us to not take things lightly and be focused until the end of the match. The lack of concentration cost us the points and we will not repeat this mistake again.”
“We also need to take our chances up front and be more clinical in front of goal. We lacked being clinical up front and we cannot afford to do that going ahead in the season,” he said. “It is a season-determining match for us against NEROCA. If things go our way, we could go second on the table and although NEROCA are a fantastic team, we would aim for nothing less than a win,” Law added.
Forward Alfred Jayran said, “We have learned from our errors and a win (against NEROCA) will give us more confidence going ahead in the season. We need to keep the momentum alive and a win is a must for us.”
Lapses in defence were exploited to the maximum by Gokulam Kerala FC against NEROCA and coach Gift Raikhan wants his team to improve the back-line. Raikhan said, “We need to defend as a team and be solid at the back. We cannot afford to be callous against Aizawl FC in defence because they can really punish us with their style of play.”
“We will aim for nothing less than a win because a win could take us higher on the table. We respect Aizawl as opponents but we will give our cent per cent on the field to get a positive result. It will be a tough challenge but we are prepared for it,” he added.
Goalkeeper Bishrojit Singh said, “We learned from our mistakes after the match against Gokulam and we are looking forward to grabbing three points against Aizawl FC. They are a tough team and we know that they will look to attack more, but I believe we are better and can beat them.”
