On the cusp of lifting its maiden I-League title, TRAU FC will look to put its best foot forward and earn full points when it takes on Churchill Brothers in a crucial match in Kolkata on Sunday.
TRAU (25) is tied on points with Churchill and a win on Sunday could potentially hand the team its first-ever title, provided Gokulam Kerala FC (23) drop points later in the day against Mohammedan SC (20).
While Churchill, Mohammedan and Real Kashmir have all lost points in the championship stage, TRAU won its last five games.
Bidyasagar Singh had scored successive hat-tricks, and propelled by a stellar partnership with fellow forward Komron Tursunov his ability to convert half-chances could prove to be pivotal. He has scored 11 goals so far.
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"We never thought that we would be in this position. We were always thinking about surviving relegation and then getting into the top-six. We never thought we could be champions," head coach Nandakumar Singh said.
"We always took one football match at a time and even tomorrow we will be playing to defeat Churchill, taking one match at a time, not thinking about the championship. We will be without the services of Komron, so that is a big blow for us."
Churchill Brothers would look to shrug off its back-to-back defeats and take inspiration from an 11-match unbeaten run to seal its third league title in India.
"We have to be focused and correct our mistakes. We have to stay on course and stay determined," manager Fernando Santiago Varela said.
"TRAU is a tough opponent, they have the ability to fight all the time. We want to have control of the game and be ready for their counter-attacks."
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