Buoyed by their fighting display against Delhi Waveriders, struggling Mumbai Magicians would be eagerly seeking their maiden win when they take on strong Punjab Warriors in the Hockey India League (HIL) at the Mahindra Stadium here tomorrow.
Magicians were in control for most part of the match but they allowed the Waveriders to take the game away in the last few minutes yesterday to slump to their fourth defeat.
With just six points from five games, the hosts cannot afford to repeat the mistakes tomorrow, a fact pointed out by coach M K Kaushik ahead of their encounter against Warriors.
"Tomorrow's match is crucial and we have to play to win the match. We will try and overcome the areas that we have been lacking in and improve ourselves," Kaushik said today.
Magicians skipper Glenn Turner rued the missed chances in their previous game and expressed confidence that the team would bounce back and deliver.
"The team has performed well in the last couple of games. Our strategy will be to remain focused tomorrow and finish off well. In the last game we missed a lot of opportunities and we are working hard to overcome those mistakes and perform better in our upcoming games," he said.
But the hosts will have a difficult task against the Barry Dancer-coached Warriors, who have won three out of the five games they played so far, while drawn another to collect 18 points.
"The match against the Mumbai Magicians cannot be taken lightly as they have been showing great team work in the last few matches," said Dancer.
Warriors captain Jamie Dwyer said his team hoped to have a good game against the Magicians.
"We've had a bit of break after our last game against Uttar Pradesh Wizards, therefore it'll be a challenge for us to regain the same intensity as we had in the first part of the tournament.
"We've always done well against the Magicians and we'll try to keep our good run against them. Everyone in the team is rejuvenated after getting a few days' rest in Mumbai and we hope to have a good game against them," said Dwyer.
