Churchill ready for Mumbai FC challenge

Mapusa: Churchill Brothers, who looked far from settled in their last two outings, would be eyeing their first win when they take on Mumbai FC tomorrow in the third round of the Airtel I-League, played at the Duler ground here.

Churchill`s title defense hasn`t begun on the right note having garnered just a point from their opening two fixtures but coach Mariano Dias was optimistic that his team will play to their potential against Mumbai to garner their first win. Injuries to key players like Hugo Machado and Henry has been a reason for Churchill`s poor show against Salgaocar in their opening match which they lost 0-1. However, Churchill put up a much better performance against Mohun Bagan in their next match which ended in a goalless draw. "Victory is important for us and we are going all out to collect full points tomorrow," Churchill coach Dias said. "Henry Antchouet who was half fit in the last match has fully recovered and is going to lead the attack along with Syrian striker Ahmad Al Kaddour. While Hugo Machado, who has not recovered from his injury, will sit on the bench and will play only if team needs him," added Dias. Churchill`s main worry going into tomorrow`s match would be their inability to score goals in their last two games. In their last two encountrs, Churchill lacked creativity in the midfield and a lot will depend on Lenny Rodrigues to create opening for their strikers to score. Mumbai FC, on the other hand, have two points from two matches, thanks to Anwar Ali`s late goal that salvaged Mumbai a point against Dempo. The Mumbai side is comparatively a young side and are determined to do better as the tournament goes on. Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil is happy with the way his boys played in the last two matches, except for their finishing as they missed quite a number of good chances without their foreign strikers. But once their main striker Yusif Yakubu and Sanjhar Ahmadi returns to the side things will be different. Mumbai FC would depend on Haroon Amiri, who excelled in the last match, to lead the attack and with Sanjhar Ahmadi playing his first match tomorrow, the forwardline looks more sharper. "We know that tomorrow they are facing a tough opponent and beating them in their own backyard is difficult but we have come all prepared to face them and will try to win tomorrow," stated Jamil. PTI