I-League: Hurting Kenkre out to prove doubters wrong

Kenkre FC has had a baptism of fire in their maiden I-League campaign but they will be hoping to turn things around as they face a rejuvenated TRAU FC on Wednesday here at the Naihati stadium.

After a battling 1-1 draw with Real Kashmir in their opening game, the Mumbai-based team has let in 10 goals in their last two outings against RoundGlass Punjab and Gokulam Kerala. But head coach Akhil Kothari believes these heavy defeats will not affect his team's mentality.

"Even though we lost these games, we fought till the end and finished the game strongly, even scoring twice against Gokulam. Our mentality has always been to fight for the points and play well and that is something we are not going to change," he said.

TRAU recorded their first win of the campaign against Churchill Brothers in the previous game and Kothari is expecting them to be on a high after that.

"The beauty of the I-League is that there are no easy games and all teams are competitive. TRAU proved that last time and will have momentum but we are ready for the challenge," he said.

TRAU head coach L. Nandakumar Singh believes the club has turned the corner after a poor start but stressed the importance to keep performing well.

"After winning the last game, the boys are on a high and ready to play again with high intensity. It was important for us to win the last game and this one will be equally important to keep the momentum going," he said.

Nandakumar Singh was wary of a Kenkre side hurting from their two heavy defeats and expected a reaction.

"Kenkre is not a bad team and they played well in their first game against Real Kashmir. We will have to be energetic to beat them as I believe they will be more offensive, having lost their last two games," he concluded.