Having endured a difficult season, Churchill Brothers will hope for a change in fortune in the new year when it faces table-topper East Bengal in the Hero I-League match at the Tilak Stadium on Monday.
Two-time champion, Churchill has lost all its five matches and is languishing at the bottom of the table. Nothing has worked for the side, which sacked its coach Mykola Shevcheko after losing its first three matches.
The decision, however, did not change its fortune as its losing streak continued but assistant coach Alfred Fernandes is determined that his team will do well in 2018. “Last season too we were in similar position but things changed after Derrick Pereira took over the reign as we kept on winning to finish sixth,” Alfred said.
“Last time in the away match we played against East Bengal we put up a good performance and lost narrowly 2-3 but we want to erase that defeat tomorrow with a win,” he added.
Churchill has signed three Indian players – two from Pune FC (Wayne Vaz, Pawan Kumar) and one from FC Goa (Jovel Martins) besides roping in striker from Ivory coast Koffi Mechac. Mechac is likely to play tomorrow along with Wayne Vaz and Jovel Martins.
“We just need a win and things will fall in line.Tomorrow is a big challenge for us as we take on confident looking East Bengal who are at the top of the table and are looking to consolidate their position,” Alfred said.
“We have worked out strategy to halt their winning run and hopefully it work as we play for our first win in front of our home crowd,” he added.
East Bengal sits pretty at the top of the table with 16 points and coach Khalid Jamil said his team will look for its sixth win tomorrow. “Every team in this tournament is good and we cannot under estimate Churchill Brothers even though they are at the bottom of the table without a point,” Jamil said.
“They gave us tough fight for us at home and its always tough to beat them on their home ground. Its going to be a close fight and which ever team make less mistake will win.”
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