KOLKATA: On the cusp of lifting their maiden
I-League
title,
TRAU FC
will look to put their best foot forward and earn full points when they take on
Churchill Brothers
in a crucial match on Sunday.
TRAU (25) and Churchill (25) are tied on points and a win on Sunday could potentially hand them their first-ever title, provided Gokulam Kerala FC (23) drop points later in the day against Mohammedan SC (20).
While Churchill, Mohammedan, Real Kashmir -- all lost points in the championship stage, TRAU won their last five games.
Bidyashagar Singh
had scored successive hat-tricks and propelled by a stellar partnership with fellow forward
Komron Tursunov
, his ability to convert half-chances could prove to be pivotal.
He has so far scored 11 goals.
"We never thought that we would be in this position. We were always thinking about surviving relegation and then getting into the top six. We never thought we could be champions," head coach Nandakumar said.
"We always took one match at a time and even tomorrow we will be playing to defeat Churchill, taking one match at a time, and not thinking about the championship.
"We will be without the services of Komron (Tursunov) so that is a big blow for us as well."
Churchill Brothers would look to shrug off their back-to-back defeats and take inspiration from an 11-match unbeaten run to seal their third title.
"We have to be focused and correct our mistakes. We have to stay on course and stay determined," coach Varela said.
"TRAU is a tough opponent, they have the ability to fight for all the time. We want to have control of the game and be ready for TRAU's counter-attack football."
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