By IANS
Margao : Sporting Clube de Goa coach Clifford Chukwuma is backing his side to go from strength to strength when they take on Mohun Bagan in the ninth round of the I-League football tournament at the Nehru Stadium here Wednesday.
Having grabbed two wins in consecutive matches at home — after a drought of seven matches — Chukwuma believes his side can only get better.
“There is no looking back now,” Chukwuma told IANS after a training session at the Club’s training ground.
Chukwuma’s pairing of Lawrence Adjei and Junior Elijah upfront has proved a major bonus so far in the league and the coach is confident there is even more to come as he plots another giant downfall.
“We showed against East Bengal that we can tackle the big guns. Mohun Bagan shouldn’t be a problem at home,” said a confident looking Chukwuma.
But, despite Chukwuma’s bravado, it will not be that against Mohun Bagan, who themselves are on a three match winning streak.
Bagan coach Carlos Roberto Pereira did not speak at the pre-match media briefing due to a throat infection, but he will hope for another intensive performance from his boys.
The Brazilian coach has overcome a tough few weeks for Mohun Bagan who have struggled to find their best form, although he believes the signs are there that they are starting to gel.
Spirits have been raised at the Bagan camp in recent weeks, after the Kolkata team ended a run of poor results – including successive demoralising defeats in Goa – that even threatened to upstage the Brazilian coach.
Having addressed his side’s home form, Carlos will now look to improve things on the road – where Bagan have won just one of their four matches away.
Bagan’s potent attacking duo Jose Ramirez Barreto and Bhaichung Bhutia – have been among the goals, but they will have to be at their best to put it across a Sporting Clube defence that has managed a clean sheet in the last three matches.