Shillong Lajong and Minerva Punjab have a solitary point between themselves ahead of a crucial six-pointer at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the I-League in Shillong on Saturday.
Looking at the two coaches Surinder Singh and Thangboi Singto, you would not have guessed it as the duo addressed the media ahead of their clash.
Singto was his usually calm side but didn’t mince his words as he claimed disappointment at the way that his side capitulated against Aizawl in their last league match, “The first two matches were tough but we didn’t get anything. Last match, I definitely felt like we could have gotten one point, maybe even three. We are under pressure for sure and we need to pull our socks up as we look up at the table.”
Lajong went with an all-Indian back four in the last game playing Sandeep Singh instead of foreign recruit Dan Ignat as the latter was not fully fit for that game. Singto confirmed that the Romanian centre-back was doubtful for this game as well and that the defence would have to improve, “These are not 16 or 18-year-olds. They are 20 year-olds who have been given the chance to play in the I-League and should grab their chances, showing experience and maturity at this level. We are finding that gelling as an unit is proving difficult. We have young defenders and that is an area of concern for sure.”
Yuta Kinowaki, who scored Lajong’s consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat in the Northeast derby. was asked if the emotions got the better of him as the Japanese fought with Asier Dipanda as to who would take the penalty. Kinowaki replied, “I had confidence at that point. It didn’t matter that I was playing against my former team. I felt like I could contribute to the team and so I wanted to take the penalty as first choice Fabio (Pena) and second choice Isaac were both taken off.”
Surinder Singh, coach of Minerva Punjab too expressed confidence in his young players and wanted to keep the faith in the line-up that was thrashed 4-0 by Mohun Bagan in their last I-League outing.
Singh said, “I am happy with the way they played, especially in the second half. We had more shots. They have shown that they are ready to perform and have the confidence to do so. We just have to push them a bit,” adding that he wouldn’t be tinkering with the line-up or the forward line, which has failed to score in their three outings so far.
Anirudh Thapa, the Minerva youngster who showed glimpses of his quality last match was very happy to be playing the I-League, “This is my first season and all of us are very young. If you play with your batchmates and people your age, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”