Mumbai FC coach Oscar Bruzon of Spain has told his players not to think too much about the current standings, but to stay focused for the match against Chennai City FC which is a crucial 16th round I-League match to be played at the Cooperage ground on Sunday, April 16, 2017. The match is scheduled to commence at 7.05 pm.
Mumbai FC coach Oscar Bruzon addressing media persons during a pre-match press conference.
“There are four teams that are within range of about six points from us and if we are going to think in terms of relegation, it’s going to be tough. We certainly don’t want to finish last, but want to play in the Federation Cup,” Bruzon pointed out.
The top eight teams in the I-League will qualify to participate in the Federation Cup which is scheduled to start from the first week of next month.
Churchill Brothers, Goa, who also face the relegation threat lost 1-3 to leaders Aizawl FC in Goa on Saturday and that would give the Mumbai club the boost and confidence to play for a win against Chennai.
Coach Bruzon had quite rightly told media persons at the pre-match conference that his team would play for a win. “I believe that we stand a very good chance to win against Chennai, but we have to stay focused and have to show the results. They are a good compact team, well balanced with some exceptional players upfront. But we have to take care of that and hope to pick on their weaknesses and try to win the game,” the Mumbai coach said.
Chennai City coach V. Soundarajan mentioned that they would go all out for a win. “It’s a tough game for us. Mumbai FC is a good team. They have done well against all the top teams including Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC and East Bengal, but luck has not favoured them. They dominated the match against us at home and took the lead but we managed to score two goals after that and win the game,” the Chennai coach mentioned.
Bruzon also mentioned that they have been working on different strategies on how to score goals. “We have been trying out ways to create chances. Earlier we had very limited options but now we have opened our eyes and working of many different ways to score goals and especially from set-pieces,” explained the Spanish coach.
Mumbai FC will continue to miss their energetic striker Thoi Singh who is still recovering from a knee injury, while Afghan defender Djelaluddin Sharityar and Brazilian striker Alex Silva have some niggles and the coach is expected to take a decision after a light training session later in the evening.
A win would lift the Mumbai side, which is currently in 10th position with 11 points, while the Chennai side is in 7th position with 16 points.