KOLKATA: Starting their campaign with a loss to Chennaiyin FC at home, Odisha FC will be eager to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Punjab FC in an away match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.
Under the guidance of Sergio Lobera , Odisha do have the resources to make it a hat-trick of wins against Punjab FC, who are in their second season in the league, but the Kalinga Warriors must fix their defensive woes in the second match of the season to notch their first win.
Lobera's trusted centre-back Carlos Delgado will be unavailable for the match with the ankle injury suffered during the Chennaiyin game. Wing-back Saviour Gama, who made his ISL debut in the last game, is also doubtful with the knock which made him go out in the 16th minute of the first match.
Odisha, meanwhile, are winless in their last five ISL away games, and have lost their last three matches. They would surely aim to break that winless run on Friday evening by improving their performance on field.
"We need to learn and improve, starting with myself as the coach. We need to analyse many things, but the players need to put their focus on the next game. We need to improve a lot of things if we want to be competitive and secure top positions in the ISL," Lobera said ahead of the encounter.
Punjab, meanwhile, will find it difficult to quickly come to terms with the absence of their inspirational captain-forward Luka Majcen, who is set to miss the action for at least 6-8 weeks with fractured jaw.
Admitting that their gameplan without Majcen in the setup will be crucial in shaping up their season, PFC head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis said on the eve of the match, "We hope that Luka recovers quickly and joins the team. He is a fighter and would have been with the team even in this situation if it was possible."
However, the Dilmperis-coached side will hope to register their second win on the trot after beating Kerala Blasters in their away opener. And if Punjab managed to do so it would be their first against Odisha. Punjab lost both the league matches to the Juggernauts last season.
Hugo Boumous showed his brilliance as the creative midfielder in his debut for Odisha in the last game and Lobera will need him to live up to the billing alongside experienced senior-pros like Roy Krishna, Diego Mauricio, Mourtada Fall and Ahmed Jahouh to deliver the goods in combination with the Indian youngsters in the Juggernauts' setup.
Under the guidance of Sergio Lobera , Odisha do have the resources to make it a hat-trick of wins against Punjab FC, who are in their second season in the league, but the Kalinga Warriors must fix their defensive woes in the second match of the season to notch their first win.
Lobera's trusted centre-back Carlos Delgado will be unavailable for the match with the ankle injury suffered during the Chennaiyin game. Wing-back Saviour Gama, who made his ISL debut in the last game, is also doubtful with the knock which made him go out in the 16th minute of the first match.
Odisha, meanwhile, are winless in their last five ISL away games, and have lost their last three matches. They would surely aim to break that winless run on Friday evening by improving their performance on field.
"We need to learn and improve, starting with myself as the coach. We need to analyse many things, but the players need to put their focus on the next game. We need to improve a lot of things if we want to be competitive and secure top positions in the ISL," Lobera said ahead of the encounter.
Punjab, meanwhile, will find it difficult to quickly come to terms with the absence of their inspirational captain-forward Luka Majcen, who is set to miss the action for at least 6-8 weeks with fractured jaw.
Admitting that their gameplan without Majcen in the setup will be crucial in shaping up their season, PFC head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis said on the eve of the match, "We hope that Luka recovers quickly and joins the team. He is a fighter and would have been with the team even in this situation if it was possible."
However, the Dilmperis-coached side will hope to register their second win on the trot after beating Kerala Blasters in their away opener. And if Punjab managed to do so it would be their first against Odisha. Punjab lost both the league matches to the Juggernauts last season.
Hugo Boumous showed his brilliance as the creative midfielder in his debut for Odisha in the last game and Lobera will need him to live up to the billing alongside experienced senior-pros like Roy Krishna, Diego Mauricio, Mourtada Fall and Ahmed Jahouh to deliver the goods in combination with the Indian youngsters in the Juggernauts' setup.
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