I-League: Dempo looking to bounce back from defeat against East Bengal

I-League: Dempo looking to bounce back from defeat against East Bengal

• Mandar Rao of Dempo – courtesy Facebook

Dempo FC, who suffered their first defeat at home against Shillong Lajong, are looking to bounce back when they take on East Bengal on Sunday at the Nehru Stadium, Fatord, Margao.

Dempo were looking to extend their unbeaten run but failed to put up a collective performance and lost their first match against Shillong Lajong 2-0 to remain at the bottom half of the table with seven points from six matches.

Dempo did not get the right start that they were looking for with their midfield lacking the flair in the absence of Romeo Fernandes and Peter Carvalho. As a result they struggled to put up a collective performance against Lajong and hardly troubled the rival defence.

Mandar Rao, Jewel Raja and Carlos Hernandez who played in the second half too failed to create any impact on the opposition and on Sunday they will have to give their best in the absence of injured Tolgay Ozbey if they are to win against East Bengal.

On the other hand, Eelco Schattorie, who took over the reign from Armando Colaco for East Bengal, drew his first match against Mohun Bagan in their last outing and now will be anxious to win here to boost the morale of the team as they are placed sixth with nine points from six matches.

Dempo’s coach Arthur Papas said it is going to be a tough match against East Bengal. “We have worked on our mistakes from the last match defeat during the practice session and are looking to bounce back to win tomorrow and put ourselves on the right track,” said Papas.

“We have always played well against the Kolkata side and hopefully our team perform to their ability tomorrow to notch their first win,” he said. His counterpart Eelco Schattorie said: “It’s always tough playing against Dempo in their own den and tomorrow it’s going to be close contest which we are expecting to win.”

via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1aCpvkL