Winless in their last four games and languishing at the bottom half of the points table, Delhi Dynamos would look to notch up their first victory at home when they take on a struggling FC Pune City in an Indian Super League football match here tomorrow.
Delhi began the tournament with a bang by defeating defending champions Chennaiyin FC in Chennai in their campaign opener but since then they have been on a four-match winless streak.
It's not so much that they have been out of sorts but simply Delhi have not been able to do that extra bit to get a win. After the Chennai win, there were three consecutive draws -- against Kerala Blasters, NorthEast United and Mumbai FC.
The last two draws came at home and that did not do anything good for Delhi though the match against Mumbai was a six-goal thriller. They then lost their last game against 10-man Atletico de Kolkata 0-1, failing to score from a penalty. That pushed Delhi to sixth spot in the eight-team league table.
Understandably, Delhi coach Gianluca Zambrotta expressed concern and asked his strikers to start firing and get the campaign back on track.
"In the last match (against ATK), we had opportunities to score but did not kill the match. We are able to create a lot of chances, that's no problem for us. Unfortunately in the last match, there were some mistakes. Football is like this, sometimes it may appear cruel. It is important for us to think positively," said Zambrotta at the pre-match press conference.
"We have very good players and at the moment, they are not at their best. They have to improve," he said.
Goa head coach Zico, on the other hand, has already given up on his team's chances but he said his players will approach tomorrow's match with the same intensity.
"We will play with same intensity. We are professionals. When we go on the pitch, we must respect the jersey, the fans and the honour of our owner. I learnt this when I started playing football. We have to honour the jersey, always. We will give hundred percent," said Zico.
Goa lost 0-2 against Delhi at home and will again remain underdogs in the away clash. They have been poor defensively but have a healthy away record compared to their home performances, after scoring seven of their 11 points away and keeping two of their three clean sheets when playing away from home.
"Tomorrow's match is a different story. When we played Delhi (in our home match), we had to fight for points and take more risks. We do not need to take risks now. The only difference is that we will field only those players who are hundred percent fit. The last game was very tiring," said Zico.
