Hosts Goa, who lifted the trophy in the 2008-09 edition, have not been in cruise control mode in any of their matches. A scrappy 2-1 win over Meghalaya in their opening match was followed by dull draws against Bengal and Chandigarh respectively.
However, the last-gasp win over defending champions Services would give them plenty of confidence going into this crucial game tomorrow. The biggest concern facing Goa coach Mateus Costa was that he has been forced to constantly chop and change his side. He has already used three goalkeepers in the four matches.
Goa are likely to persist with Bruno Colaco at the goal and a final decision on the fitness of Leny Pereira and Francis Fernandes will be taken tomorrow after consulting the physio.
Utility man Peter Carvalho would feature in defence or midfield depending on Leny's fitness with Cajetan Fernandes, Glan Martins, Latesh Mandrekar and Brian Mascarenhas likely to make up the rest of the midfield. Young star Liston Colaco is likely to start alongside Aaren D'Silva upfront.
Striker Jobby Justin, Asharudeen and captain P Usman in attack would be looking to exploit the Goan defence with their pacy runs and sharp finishing while Asharudeen would look to provide all the ammunition from midfield.
A win for Kerala would put them in the final for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they lost to Services on home soil.
In the other semi-final, Bengal will take on Mizoram. Bengal, winners of the Santosh Trophy for a record 31 times, would look to put it across Mizoram who will be fresh from their 5-1 rout of Railways two days back.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
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