I-League: Confident Indian Arrows face Minerva Punjab FC challenge at home

Bambolim (Goa): Indian Arrows will go into the game against Minerva Punjab FC full of confidence on the back of a big 3-0 win against Chennai City FC in their I-League campaign opener at the GMC Bambolim Athletic Stadium in Goa on Tuesday.

On the brink of the game against Minerva Punjab FC, Arrows coach Luis Norton de Matos said that they are ready for the challenge.

“Every game is a different story and I think Minerva and the other teams will look at us in a different way. I think they will come more prepared. They won’t come and say that these players are young, they will say that they must play hundred percent to beat our team. We also have to play hundred percent to beat Minerva,” Matos said during the pre-match press conference.

Aniket Jadhav scored a brace and Boris Singh was on target while they managed to keep a clean sheet against Chennai City FC. The coach also focused on areas they should concentrate on.

“Our mentality tomorrow is to try to win the game. Try to play better. The main things are to not make mistakes and the concentration should be top”, Matos conceded.

It was an impressive performance where the boys showed tactical nous and a killer instinct. And Minerva Punjab coach Khogen Singh is wary of that.

“In the match against Chennai City, they were extremely good in the counter attacks. We have to be careful about this,” Singh said.

He added: “It is an away game and we have to be careful in the defence.”

Matos fielded ten players from the team that was part of the Under-17 World Cup with only Edmund Lalrindika from the U-19 squad for the first game.

And the coach hinted that he might retain the same playing eleven who played in the first match provided there are no injuries because they had enough time to rest.

Meanwhile, Wangkhem identified Aniket Jadhav as the biggest threat on Tuesday.

Minerva Punjab FC won’t be pushovers as they come into the game unbeaten, having held the mighty Mohun Bagan 1-1 before a 2-1 win against Neroca FC in their first two games at their home.

Meanwhile, their form on the road is yet to be tested this season.

In both the games, the Ludhiana based club rallied back after falling behind and they would be up for a fight against Luis Norton de Matos’ young side. Minerva’s Bhutanese forward Chencho Gyeltshen will be the one to watch out for.

Chencho scored one and set-up the second in their win against Neroca FC.

“It would be an interesting game. They have shown that they are a very good team. We have come here to get three points,” Chencho said.

Minerva does not have any injury concerns while Matos has injury concerns to three players- Namgyal Bhutia, Abhishek Halder, and Lalengmawia.