Speed In Frame As Sreenidi Square Up Against Shillong

The Deccan Warriors played out a 1-1 draw away to Real Kashmir FC in their previous fixture, while Shillong Lajong also registered a 1-1 draw at home against Chanmari FC. Both teams have accumulated four points from their opening two matches of the season.

Speaking ahead of the team’s third consecutive away fixture, head coach Antonio Rueda said, “We are feeling confident ahead of the encounter against Shillong Lajong FC. They are a difficult team who play a similar brand of football to us, but we are prepared to win the match and secure the three points.”

Senior goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh spoke about the team’s mentality ahead of the fixture, saying, “We are playing our third consecutive away match against a difficult opponent, on a difficult ground, but we are confident in ourselves. We have prepared well, and we are sure that we can take away a positive result from the game.”

Sreenidi captain David Castaneda, now in his sixth season with the club, remains the reference point. The Colombian drops deep to bring others into the game and still finds his way into the box, where he is especially good in the air. In Jaipur, his weighted pass sent Nishu Kumar through for the 66th-minute winner, and in Srinagar, he headed the equaliser seven minutes after half-time.

Both goals came from the full-backs. Nishu ran beyond the defence to score in Jaipur. In Srinagar, Jagdeep Singh supplied the cross for Castaneda, with Adriano Castanheira’s run from midfield opening the space.

Much of Friday’s contest may come down to who has the ball. Lajong had 70 per cent of it against Chanmari.