ISL: FC Goa look to reach playoffs with win over ATK (Preview)

FC Goa will aim for a win to take them to the playoffs when they take on stragglers ATK in an Indian Super League (ISL) contest at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

A victory for the hosts will take them to the fourth place, with a point's advantage over Jamshedpur FC.

One of the most entertaining outfits in ISL history will be aiming for nothing less than three points to get their season back on track.

As for ATK, the Kolkata outfit has not won in seven matches -- six of them being losses.

The best ATK can do is finish eighth, if they win both their matches and the teams below them don't match their results.

The visitors don't have injury concerns apart from Ryan Taylor, but confidence is certainly low.

However, they have nothing to lose and their assistant coach Bastab Roy said that it would make for good watching.

"We don't have any psychological edge -- in fact, the situation is not in our favour. But it will be a good open match for the spectators," he said.

He would not be drawn into the details of what had gone wrong for the side: "This is not the right time to discuss what went wrong. That (discussion) will be after the season. Something is going wrong in the last 15-20 minutes and FC Goa is a well-balanced team and in the run for the top four. So it's a tough task and we will give our best," he added.

Goa are riding high after beating a strong Pune City side 4-0. Most of their top performers clicked on the night -- with Ferran Corominas scoring a brace while Manuel Lanzarote and Hugo Boumous also got on the score-sheet.

"If we can do it like last time, then great -- but we have to tick a few boxes to win. We have to play good football, try and keep a clean sheet and do multiple things right. We don't want to just win in any manner," FC Goa head coach Sergio Lobera said.

"We are at a stage where the game tomorrow is very important for us. We fought a lot to reach here and at this moment in time, (qualification) still lies completely in our hands. Hopefully when the next two games are done, our fans will be happy that their team will be competing in the semi-finals," he added.

Lobera also reminded his team that all the records and performances of the past won't matter when they clash again on Wednesday. "Tomorrow is a new scenario," he said.

--IANS

dm/pur/bg