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Margao: Injury-hit Salgaocar FC take on Royal Wahingdoh FC in a Round two encounter of the 2014-15 Hero I-League at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao on Friday, the 23rd of January. Whilst the Greens came back strongly in the second 45 minutes in the opener against Pune FC to hold the Red Lizards to a 1-all draw, newly promoted Royal Wahingdoh FC made a winning start to the campaign on their I-League debut having got the better of Shillong Lajong 2-1 in the Shillong Derby.
Both sides, however, go into the game with injuries to key players, Salgaocar being far worse hit. Saran Singh who suffered an abdominal strain in the last encounter is unlikely to be fit in time and adds to an already long injury list that includes striker Darryl Duffy, Dawson Fernandes, Karanjit Singh and Umesh Harijan.
“Injuries are part of the game and we will have to make do with the resources available. Royal Wahingdoh play an attacking brand of football and it should be a good game of football. We will, however, look to try and win all 3 points given that we are playing at home”, remarked Derrick.
Coach Santosh Kashyap praising the Greens exclaimed, “Teams coached by Derrick are always hard to beat. They are always very compact in defence.”
Whilst the mutual admiration was visible at the pre-match conference held at the Nehru Stadium earlier today, come the 23rd, both coaches will look to clinch 3 crucial points early on in the season, given that this year’s edition shall consist of only 20 rounds as opposed to the 26 last year.
Coincidentally, whilst Salgaocar FC captain and long-serving midfielder Rocus Lamare had donned Wahingdoh colours as a teenager, the Wahingdoh skipper, Denzil Theobald had a 2-year stint in Goa with the Golden Eagles.
