Aizawl FC will look to bounce back from their loss against Neroca and keep their hopes of retaining the Hero I-League title alive when they lock horns with Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan here tomorrow.
Aizawl suffered their third defeat of the season at the hands of the league debutants Neroca FC and will look forward to topple the Green and Maroons, who overwhelmed arch-rivals East Bengal recently, thanks to the brace from Dipanda Dicka.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of the match, Mohun Bagan head coach Sankar Lal Chakraborty said, "Winning the derby is always a good motivation but playing at Aizawl is always hard.
"Last season we lost at Aizawl and our title hope faded away. Our aim is to win tomorrow and to stay in championship contention."
Chakraborty said every match is important and currently they are focused on tackling Aizawl.
"Whatever we are discussing in the dressing room we don't focus on the other team. Kingfisher East Bengal was our aim and now Aizawl is our aim. We are going step by step and every game is a big match now," he said.
Mohun Bagan Nigerian defender Kingsley Obumneme was the rock in defence in Aizawl's title-winning season.
After plying his trade for the Kolkata side Kingsley said, "Last season is gone and in football, we carry on. I'll try to enjoy the match as best as I can."
Aizawl FC will need nothing but all three points against Mohun Bagan and head coach Paulo Menezes is confident that his team will finish off the job as required.
The Portuguese tactician said, "Like every other match, we will try to win the match and aim for the three points.
"In the reverse fixture, we controlled the match and was unlucky as we conceded an own goal and in my opinion, the second goal was off-side. Tomorrow will be a different match and we will not lose the match."
"We were unlucky in our last match as we missed many goalscoring chances. I will not say we lack quality in front of goal but luck was not on our side. We forget the last game now and we concentrate only on Mohun Bagan," Romanian midfielder Andrei Ionescu chipped in.
The match is scheduled to kick-off at 02:00 PM.
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