DSK Shivajians hosts Chennai, both desperate to open account

Both sides come into the match on the back of a defeat, as Shivajians lost 1-2 to Kingfisher East Bengal and Chennai City was at the receiving end of a 0-2 loss against reigning champions Bengaluru F.C.

Chennai City practising ahead of its I-League encounter against DSK Shivajians.

DSK Shivajians will host Chennai City F.C. in its second home fixture of I-League 2016-17 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune tomorrow. Both sides come into the match on the back of a defeat, as the home side lost 1-2 to Kingfisher East Bengal and Chennai City was at the receiving end of a 0-2 loss against reigning champions Bengaluru F.C. at the Kanteerava Stadium.

Chennai's coach Robin Charles Raja looks ahead to this fixture optimistically and doesn't hide his emotions, “There are no suspensions. We’ve come into this match with lots of positivity. Hopefully, we win tomorrow’s match.”

He added, “We want to play a positive football. Even though we were defensive in our last match (against Bengaluru FC), we are intent on playing positive football.”

When Raja was asked about how the team is coping with the results, he told, “Since we were pushed into the water, we have to swim. We want to be safe.”

Elaborating on the same, Chennai City coach mentioned, “The journey back to the I-League has been quick. But we have adapted to it well. We have to put the players of Tamil Nadu on the national map and most of the players are locally based and also the foreign players are based in our state.”

Talking about the team, Raja expressed,“We have a young president, who has a lot of passion for the game and the club for the past three years, earlier in the local league. It is more like Chennai City will bring in more players based on the state and the city, and known as the real Chennai.”

Meanwhile, DSK Shivajians Manager Dave Rogers said, “Tomorrow is another big game, and there are no easy games in the league as I have said before. We are looking forward to it and welcoming Chennai City F.C. to the Balewadi. We are disappointed with the two results we have had.”

DSK Shivajians’ Shane McFaul told that despite the results not going its way, the side remains positive, “We have played well in both the matches. We will take the positive from the matches, work hard every single day and we will be looking to put that right tomorrow.

Rogers added to the team’s position, “We are building each block from the bottom, one step at a time. Results may be are not going our way, but I know with the players we have, and the confidence these players we have, we can turn the work on the training pitch to the field.”