I-League: Aizawl confident of overcoming Mohun Bagan challenge (Preview)

Aizawl FC will want to bounce back to keep their hopes of retaining the I-League title when they lock horns with Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan here on Thursday.

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.

The Kolkata outfit will be brimming with confidence after their commanding performance to outwit the cross-city rivals.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the match, Mohun Bagan head coach Sankarlal 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 hopes faded away. Our aim is to win on Thursday and to stay in championship contention."

But Sankarlal is aware of their current situation and is cautious in predicting the end-result of the league.

"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's Nigerian defender Kingsley Obumneme was the rock in defence last season. After plying his trade for the Kolkata side Kingsley stated: "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 were 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 have to forget the last game now and concentrate only on Mohun Bagan," Romanian midfielder Andrei Ionescu chipped in.

--IANS

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