To improve their team’s fortunes, Mahindra United coach Derrick Pereira is still looking to experiment and says, “There will be changes in our side”. On the other hand, their opponents in the 16th round I-League encounter on Saturday — Sporting Clube de Goa, after a disastrous start now look quite settled and confident. Their coach Clifford Chukwama declares, “There will be no changes in the side from the last match”.In their last match, Sporting forced JCT to split points, whereas Mahindra United went down to East Bengal. The pressure will surely be on the home side as Pereira admits, “We lost four points in the last two matches against teams we could easily surpass,” while adding: “We are determined to play attractive football.” He also hints at changing the forward line to make way for seasoned campaigner Yusif Yakubu. “Yakubu will play tomorrow though he is not fully fit,” he confirms. Either Sushil Kumar or Andrews Mensah will have to make way for him. However, Pereira points out that there won’t be any changes in the midfield though K Ajayan, Azumi Arata and Tarif Ahmed have been ruled out of the remaining I-League matches.There will be changes under the bar as Subhashish Roy Chowdhury will take guard for the first time in Mumbai this season. “Both our goalkeepers are quality players. Though Sandip Nandy is high on experience, I wanted to give Subhashish a chance,” states Pereira, who is hopeful about Mahindra getting the better of the Sporting side. Though the local Red Devils have found winning ways back at the Cooperage, Sporting will be surely looking to spoil their party at home as Chukwama sounds confident saying, “We have done it earlier and we can do it again”. Viva’s last strawMeanwhile, in Panaji, debutants Viva Kerala are looking to garner full points in their crucial match tomorrow against Salgaocar to try and avoid relegation, adds PTI.Viva Kerala are in relegation zone, along with Sporting Clube De Goa, Air India, and East Bengal. They are placed ninth with 12 points from 15 matches, five points ahead of bottom-placed Salgaocar.Viva Kerala started well initially but failed to maintain the same tempo to put themselves in the relegation zone. A win tomorrow will give them a breathing space, because they play their next two matches at home against East Bengal and Dempo. Salgaocar coach Savio Medeira said: “Our chances of avoiding relegation is over after losing the last three matches which we should have won easily. We missed a lot of scoring chances.”
