Churchill Brothers seek to end run of near-misses

Churchill Brothers would look to end their run of near misses when they take on a confident Salgaocar in the 16th round of I-League at the Nehru Stadium on Sunday.

Margao: Churchill Brothers, who missed closechances to go down to Mohun Bagan in their last match, would look to end their run of near misses when they take on a confident Salgaocar in the 16th round of I-League at the Nehru Stadium on Sunday.

Churchill are on 29 points from 14 matches and they are placed third. Defending champions Salgaocar are on seventh place with 25 points from 15 matches. Churchill coach Manuel Gomes will rue the chances that his strikers missed in the closing stage against Mohun Bagan which they lost 2-3. "We cannot afford to miss close chances in a tight situation. If we continue to do so our chances of winning the title will diminish," stated Gomes. "Tomorrow is another tough match where we play against another team whose confidence is high after winning five straight matches and we should remain more focused and play to our ability to win tomorrow and climb on top," he said. Edeh Chidi, who did not play the last match due to injury, is back in the side along with Isfaq Ahmed who was serving a suspension for double booking and coach Karim Bencherifa will have a full squad to choose from. Salgaocar will be looking to Ryuji Sueoka to steer the attack from the middle. Isfaq Ahmed, Rocus Lamare, Tomba Singh and Francis Fernandes are playing well in the midfield to lend more solidity to their attack. Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa is happy the way his boys are playing. "All credit goes to the players who are playing with lot of maturity and the confidence of the boys have gone high. Now they should continue their good work and keep on winning matches in order to climb up the ladder.” "Churchill Brothers are a good side to whom we have drawn in the last match. Tomorrow is a difference game and we should remain focused till the end and play to our potential to win," stated Bencherifa. PTI