I-League: Chennai City aim to maintain unbeaten run

Vasco (Goa), April 21: Chennai City FC will aim to extend their unbeaten streak when they take on Churchill Brothers in an I-League tie at the Tilak Maidan Stadium here on Saturday.

Chennai City have been unbeaten in their last five I-League matches, but their coach Soundara Rajan feels that Churchill Brothers are a different proposition on their own home turf.

"Churchill have managed three big victories at their home and we should be very careful about them. Anyway, we would settle for a draw but we don't want to lose the match. We will go all out and since both are on same points, we want to take points out of this game. If we win, then we will qualify for the Federation Cup," Rajan told the media on the eve of the match.

Both teams are on 17 points from 16 matches although Churchill Brothers are at the sixth spot, two rungs above the visitors due to a superior goal difference.

If qualification for the Federation Cup was not enough motivation, the prospect of playing in Goa which has a special place in Indian football is something that the entire Chennai City FC squad is looking forward to.

"Playing in Goa and against such a historic club like Churchill Brothers is the greatest opportunity for the club and it is great for the players especially we have a lot of young players. It will be a great moment for them," Rajan explained.

As far as Churchill Brothers are concerned, the Derrick Pereira coached side will look to bounce back from their 1-3 defeat at home against joint league leaders Aizawl FC in their last match.

"We had a bad match last time against Aizawl but we have worked on it and the players who missed that match are back and we will give our best and hopefully get three points," Pereira said.

Crucially for Churchill Brothers, their defensive mainstay Rowilson Rodrigues, who missed the tie against Aizawl, is expected to play on Saturday.

Chennai City FC meanwhile, will miss the services of a few players, most notably Denson Devadas, Nanda Kumar and K. Prasanth.

Besides Mohun Bagan and Aizawl, all other teams have turned their attention to qualification for the Federation Cup and both coaches have one eye on finishing higher up the table.

"Absolutely, we are looking at the Fed Cup. But we have two matches remaining and we want to focus on that before talking about the Fed Cup," Pereira said.