Having claimed a confidence-boosting win in its previous match , Indian Arrows will be eyeing its third win of the campaign when it hosts Churchill Brothers in the I-League at the multipurpose Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.
The young Arrows side coached by Floyd Pinto has adopted Odisha as its home this season. Having played its previous home matches at Cuttack's Barabati Stadium, Sunday’s match will be the Arrow’s first match at the multipurpose Kalinga Stadium.
The match will be crucial for Churchill, given it has not done well in the last couple of matches after having impressed initially.
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While Churchill goes into the game on the back of two consecutive defeats, the Arrows -- the AIFF’s developmental side -- has picked up four points in its last two matches and will be looking to sustain the momentum.
“We are not happy with our performance. We have lost two matches but we hope to win tomorrow. Indian Arrows is a young team but we should not take any team lightly,” Churchill’s Romanian coach Petra Gigiu said on the match-eve.
Gigiu will bank on his attacking duo of Dawda Ceesay and league top-scorer Willis Plaza are on song to trump the Arrows on Sunday.
Arrows has had huge problems scoring goals and Pinto will have to find a way to get his team to score more goals than the three it has so far, to nurture bigger hopes.
“Judging how the season has gone, I think we are in the best mood, because we got four points in the last two games. We hope to continue the same performance against Churchill, who are probably one of the best attacking sides in the league,” Pinto said.
“They have the top goal scorer in the league. To keep them quiet and get another clean sheet will be an achievement for us,” he added.
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The Arrows was gradually hitting the right chords and Pinto seemed to have settled down with some of his experimentation in the beginning. In Deepak Tangri, Pinto has a resolute defensive midfielder, whereas he has Anwar Ali at the back, who can organise and marshal the defence.
The two back-to-back clean sheets will boost the confidence of his back-line and it is time that the side will look to become more clinical in front of goal.
For Churchill to have any hopes of a shot at the title, Sunday is a must win game.
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