AFC Cup: Churchill Brothers hope for another victory

I-League leaders Churchill Brothers SC face Singapore side Warrior FC (formerly Singapore Armed Forces) in their Group E Round 4 match of the AFC Cup at the Jalan Besar Stadium tomorrow at 7.45pm Singapore local.After they beat the same opponent last week 3-0 in Pune, Churchill Brothers maintain a chance to reach the pre-quarterfinals as they chase the group’s top two sides Semen Padang and Kitchee SC. Another win or even a draw would be useless in the Red Machines ambitions.

Churchill Brothers Technical Director Subhas Bhowmick said, “We have important matches coming up in our domestic league. To be honest we haven’t played a full strength squad in any of our AFC Cup matches since our first target is to win the I-League. The boys are proud to represent their country in such a prestigious continental tournament, but we have to maintain a balance so as to not hamper our chances of winning the I League.”

“I am very satisfied with the with our performance in the AFC Cup so far where we stand third with four points from three matches.”

Ahead of the match the, non-issuing of visas for Sunil Chhetri and Belal Arezou had been a topic. Speaking about the duo Subhas Bhowmick said, “Sunil Chhetri and Belal Arezou will be arriving tomorrow early morning, I will have to take a decision if they can start the match since there will be a lot of travel fatigue.”

Churchill Brothers captain Dharmaraj Ravanan added, “We did beat the Warriors in Pune, however they are a good side and this is their home turf, we are expecting a different and difficult game here, our boys will give their best and hopefully we collect all three points.”

Meanwhile Warriors FC coach V. Selvaraj said about the game, “It will be quiet different, I believe the result will be different too, the kick off timing is at 7:45pm compared to a 3pm kickoff in Pune. Some players are coming back from injury and thus I have more options.”

“We have to get maximum points from the remaining three matches and hope that other teams drop points to make it past the group stage. I believe we are well prepared now and if we get a positive result, things will turn around.”

Warrior FC captain Daniel Bennett added, “It is important that we get a result, the boys are positive, our group of boys are hardworking and I do believe we will turn around the result that we got in Pune.”