Chennai City FC Look to Return to Winning Ways Against Neroca

Coimbatore, Dec 20 (PTI) Defending champions Chennai City FC would look to return to winning ways when they take on Neroca FC in their I-League match at home here on Saturday.

Chennai are currently placed seventh on the table with four points from three matches -- one win, one draw and one loss. A struggling Neroca have garnered only three points with a solitary win and two losses, and are placed just below Chennai on the table.

Chennai, who were not looking like the same impressive side as last season's, have been presented with a major challenge of how to convert possession into goals.

Despite dominating possession against Aizawl FC in their last match, Chennai could not find the back of the net and had to settle with a point that came through a Roberto Eslava penalty. They also missed the services of Pedro Manzi in their last match, who was out due to injury.

Speaking before the match, Chennai head coach Akbar Nawas said, "We want to win every game in the league. We never have the championship on our mind. It is better that we have that approach.

"We won the league last year by sheer grit and the way we played. It is for the other teams to follow suit. But we can't expect the same thing to happen every time. We would have preferred having more continuity, but we are working with a new group and trying to ensure that we do our best."

Neroca also have had a tough run since the beginning of the season. They went down 1-2 against Gokulam Kerala and then suffered a 1-4 loss against East Bengal. Their only win came against Aizawl FC whom they had beaten 1-0.

Neroca captain Marvin Devon Phillip said, "The mood in the camp is great. Yes, we had a small break but during this time we have been working hard to go all out to get a positive result going into this game.

"We are aware that Chennai were the champions last season, and they are a good team. They may not have a good start but we all know that they are not to be taken for granted."

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