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Salgaocar Sports Club stay aware they can jump to the top-five spot for the first time should they manage to get past struggling HAL at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Wednesday.
Salgaocar are placed seventh at the moment with 22 points and a win against the bottom-placed squad will help them jump two spots and closer to a place they believe they belong; whereas HAL stay at the borrom of the League with 3 goals from 14 matches.
“We have to continue making progress. We have done well in the last five games but three points against HAL are an absolute must now,” said Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa.
Salgaocar had struggled to post a solitary goal win against HAL in the first leg at Bangalore and Bencherifa feels they team would have to be at their best to replicate the result at Fatorda.
“The slow start in the beginning taught us some lessons and one lesson which we learnt was that you don’t win if you don’t work really, really, hard. Whether it’s a top team or one at the bottom, there cannot be an exception. We have to really work hard for full points,” said Bencherifa.
The coach, however, was happy that his team has enjoyed a good run of form in the last five matches, that too without some of their key players. “We have managed to achieve some level of consistency and if you see the records, we have missed quite a few players. That’s an encouraging sign,” said the coach.
Unless there is a dramatic change in fortunes in the next couple of matches, HAL’s relegation becomes almost inevitable. The Bangalore side has not won a single game in the competition — only Pailan Arrows has such a dubious record — and are sitting at the bottom of the pool with three points in their kitty.
The kick-off is at 3.30pm.
