Jamshedpur FC will look to grab their second win on the trot in Indian Super League (ISL) when they host Punjab FC at JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
After a draw and a loss in their first two games, the Scott Cooper-coached side bounced back and beat former ISL champions Hyderabad FC at home. It was a hard-fought tie and Jamshedpur grabbed the win with a lone goal from their Japanese recruit Rei Tachikawa.
The win not only helped the coach breathe a sigh of relief but it also should have given the team the much-needed confidence that they will hope to carry into the game against Punjab FC, who made their debut in the league this season.
Speaking ahead of the match, the Jamshedpur coach sounded quite confident and admitted he will shy away from experimenting just for the sake of it.
“We always have some tweaks, depending on who is playing well in training, how we see the opponents. We don’t do any experiment, if we do something, it’s because we think it helps us to win the game,” Cooper said ahead of the fixture.
While goalkeeper TP Rehenesh has been in good form in front of the goal with a 91% saves stats and two clean sheets, the coach will be worried with the form of his front line. They have so far found the net only once and to address the issue, the team has even signed 26-year-old forward Steve Ambri earlier this month.
Despite the new addition and high morale, Cooper will be wary of their opponents. After two successive losses, Punjab held on for a draw against NorthEast United FC in Guwahati to earn their first point at home.
Punjab’s Melroy Melwin Assisi will once again be the one to watch out for. He not only scored the equaliser in the last match, but the 24-year-old has been efficient defensively too.
Punjab head coach Staikos Vergetis, however, is aware of the big task at hand and has a plan in place. “I don’t think it will be easy for us. We know we have a difficult game, but we have put a plan for the game for how we will face the opponent and we will try to bring discipline into the plan,” he said during the pre-match press conference.
While Punjab will expect the plan to work, Cooper will hope for the fans to turn up in numbers and motivate his players to earn their second win of the season. According to a JFC release, 18,000 tickets were already sold on Friday for Sunday’s match and one can anticipate a charged-up atmosphere at the Furnace.
