Following their impressive outing against Bharat FC, Dempo SC head coach Arthur Papas was in a confident mood ahead of their first I-League home match of the season against Sporting Clube de Goa. When asked how he rated the team’s performance based on their first two away games, the Dempo head coach replied stating he was happy with the two clean sheets against two strong opponents and how well the team was adapting to the diamond formation in midfield.
Papas however did voice his displeasure when quizzed about how the team’s preparations have been citing scheduling issues. The Australian stated that his side have had to play two games in 72 hours while tomorrows opponents have had a fairly large gap between their first and second games of the season. However he went on to state that though they are missing three or four crucial players through injury, the players are on the mend and he should have a full squad to pick from in the coming weeks.
Papas was joined at the pre-match press conference by new signing Carlos Hernandez who also said that he was very happy with his debut for Dempo SC and was looking forward to the rest of the season with his new team mates. The Costa Rican was very influential in the match against Bharat FC pulling the in the Dempo midfield.
Ahead of their second game of the season, Sporting Goa coach Mathew D’Costa stated that he was looking forward to their second game of the season. Following their draw against East Bengal Club, D’Costa stated that his expectations for this season were to improve on the performances from last season. With a relatively young side the Sporting head coach is positive but realistic about his clubs chances.
However the Flaming Orange will unfortunately be without the services of forward Victorino Fernandes. When asked if the long break between games has helped in their preparations, D’Costa stated that while it has helped with preparations, the squad has been looking forward to the matches coming up starting with their tie against Dempo SC.
In attendance with the head coach was the Trinidad & Tobago international striker Anthony Wolfe who said he was looking forward to their match tomorrow and said that the entire squad has been training hard and is raring to go.