Margao, Jan 3: Drawing inspiration from their impressive win over East Bengal, defending champions Salgaocar would look to start the new year with a win as they take on Shillong Lajong in the last round of the first leg of the I-League at the Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.
The hosts' defense will be bolstered by the return of Brazilian Luciano Sobrosa. But they will miss defender Biswajit Saha because of the red card he received at the fag end of the match against East Bengal.
With medios Anthony Barbosa, Gilbert Olivera and striker Marcus Mascrenhas continuing to be on the injury list, coach Karim Bencheria is likely to stick to the same squad that played the previous game.
“The win against East Bengal has done lot of good to the confidence of my boys who are ready to march forward and win as many matches from now on to keep pace with leaders Dempo,” Bencherifa said.
“Lajong are an unpredictable side and capable of beating any side on a given day. We need to be careful against them and play the same way we played against East Bengal and collect full points and end the first phase on a winning note to improve our standing,” he added.
Meanwhile, the visitors, who lost to Salgaocar in the Federation Cup, would be seeking revenge.
Lajong's mobility can ruffle any feather on a given day. The team will be banking on Eugenson Lyngdoh and John Meyongar to spearhead their march.
Salgaocar and Lajong are tied on 16 points each from 12 matches. However, the former is placed above the other on eighth place because of a better goal difference.
