In the 6th Round of games in the I-League, Rangdajied United is set to lock horns with Sporting Clube de Goa in the latter’s den, with the Meghalaya side still looking for its first win in the league. After a disappointing 3-0 home loss to Mohammedan Sporting on Sunday, The Blues will be hoping his side puts on a better display against the Flaming Oranje.

The game against Sporting will be the first occasion Rangdajied United will be playing an I-League game in Goa, and the blues will try to stamp their mark in their debut at one of India’s major footballing hubs. After registering two draws against Dempo SC and Churchill Brothers in the first 5 rounds, the blues currently sit at the bottom of the table, level on points with defending champions Churchill Brothers.

The newly-promoted I-League team will, however, be boosted by their performances in the two home draws, and will try to put aside the memories of the Mohammedan game. At the back, Surjay Pariyar is set to keep his starting position, and will have a key role to play against the Flaming Oranjes.

Santosh Kashyap will have many options to choose his back four from, with Poibiang Pohshna, Lamine Tamba, Munmun Lugun, Bhola Prasad, Thomas Saikhom, Pynshongdor Shadap, Pratik Chowdhary and Ambilstar Sunn all available. After shipping in three goals against Mohammedan, the blues’ defence will be looking for a much improved performance against Sporting.

Midfielders Abocha Singh, Restom Khriam, David Nghaite, Eugeneson Lynghdoh and Laldingngheta will hope to feature in the starting XI, and against a strong Sporting midfield, the Rangdajied medios will have to be at the top of their games. Lyngdoh and Nghaite have been quite impressive in the first few rounds, and will hope to keep up their good form.

Up front, Santosh Kashyap will have quite a few options to pick from, with Edmar, Ho-Jun Shin, Nagen Tamang, T Lalnunpuia, Joy Kharraswai and Sandesh Gadkari all fit. Considering Sporting’s decent defensive record so far, it will be interesting to see which forwards feature on Kashyap’s team on Thursday.

In the first five rounds, coach Kashyap has tried out many different tactics and team combinations in his starting XIs. With Rangdajied still getting adjusted to the newer environment of the I-League, the coach may yet try out fresh options on Thursday, with positive results.

The blues haven’t had the best of starts to the debut I-League campaign so far, but come Thursday evening, the boys from Shillong may just have the full three points from their first Goa outing.