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After exchanging blows with Gokulam Kerala FC in the previous round’s top of the table clash, Mohammedan Sporting turn their attentions to TRAU FC whom they face on Tuesday, March 29 at the Naihati stadium in the final kick-off at 8:05pm IST.
Mohammedan Sporting head coach Andrey Chernyshov is aware of the threat of TRAU and has warned his players not to slack off as they cannot afford to lose ground at the top of the I-League.
“They have done much better recently but that is not surprising at all as they are one of the best teams in the country having fought for the title last season,” he said. “We know it will not be an easy game and we will have to keep our concentration throughout.”
Forward Marcus Joseph has scored nine of his team’s 14 goalswhile midfielder Nikola Stojanovic is the top assisting player with five. The foreign players seem to be taking all the plaudits but Chernyshov believes that is not a concern.
“In any team around the world, be it Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, the foreign players are always the face of the team so it is quite natural. The Indian players we have are equally important to the team, there is no doubt about it,” he said.
TRAU went down 2-3 to Gokulam Kerala in their last game which was more than a week ago and head coach L. Nandakumar Singh believes they have the used this time well.
“We have used this extended break to recover and work hard on the training ground on all parts of our game. The players are refreshed and ready to go again,” he said.
In spite of the threat posed by the I-League’s top scorer Marcus Joseph, TRAU are taking heart from their performance against the defending champions and not compromising on their principles.
“For me, Gokulam Kerala and Mohammedan Sporting are the two contenders for the I-League title. We have already shown that we can hold our own against one of them and we will play an attacking brand of football against the other as well,” concluded Nandakumar Singh.
