Mohammedan Sporting Club stack themselves with enough reasons to put on a spirited show when they host NEROCA FC in a Round 2 Group B encounter of the 2016/17 Second Division League at Barasat Stadium on Friday.

Mohammedan SC were handed a defeat by Southern Samity in their opening clash and coach Ranjan Chaudhuri now needs to inspire his team to log the first win of the league. Mohammedan Sporting looked good in patches against Southern Samity. They did not score against their city rivals but coach Chaudhuri remains confident in his team’s ability to bounce back.

“The game against Southern Samity was difficult. We had our chances but at the end it was our mistakes that proved costly. It is important for us to think positively,” said coach Chaudhuri.

“Players knows the significance of the game and how important it is to win, We have worked on our mistakes from the last match during the practice sessions and are looking to bounce back to win,” he added.

NEROCA, on the other hand, scored a solitary goal victory over Hindustan FC with midfielder Pritam Singh scoring the winner. The start was encouraging for the Manipuri side but coach Gift Raikhan knows it very well there is plenty of room for improvement.

“Our team has potential and quality and we can work and develop on many things. We will try to do our best against Mohammedan SC,” said coach Raikhan.

Going into the game the visitors will be relying on Nigerian Felix Chidi Odili, top scorer of last edition, to lead their front-line and the likes of Arata Izumi, Saran Singh, Govin Singh, Subash Singh and Sushil Singh will add depth to the squad.

However Mohammedan SC is in no mood to give away anything easy for the visitors and coach Chaudhuri said, “We know tomorrow we are facing a tough opponent even for that matter the toughest in the competition, but with all said and done tomorrow we do not have any other option except win and we are going all out to achieve that.”

History backs Mohammedan Sporting who beat NEROCA in both meetings between the sides at Kolkata last season and the black panthers would look to keep the record intact, however at the same time, they will need to bring in massive improvements to beat the Gift Raikhan-coached side.

The match at Barasat Stadium kicks off at 14.00 IST on Friday.

(Mohammedan Sporting Club Press Release)