I-League: Young sides Neroca, Minerva to battle for three points

Ludhiana: Two of the youngest squads in the history of I-League will face-off when Minerva Punjab take on Neroca F.C. at the Guru Nanak Stadium here on Friday.

Minerva Punjab held Kolkata football giants Mohun Bagan to a draw at home last time and will now host the newly promoted Neroca, which is also the first ever club from Manipur to take part in the top division of Indian football.

The home side were tactically dominant in their match against Mohun Bagan where they followed the man-marking strategy which neutralized the Mohun Bagan attack for most of the game.

Abhishek Ambekar, captain Sukhdev and Kassim performed exceptionally well while half-time substitute Lago made an instant impact and made life difficult for the Mohun Bagan defence.

Minerva Punjab head coach Wankhem Khogen Singh was happy with the squad`s performance.

"We were excellent in the 2nd half against Mohun Bagan. If we keep the same form we can surely collect 3 points tomorrow," he told the media.

Neroca on the other hand will play their first away fixture of the season. The side will bank on attacking midfielder Akhlidin Israilov who hails from Kyrgyzstan.

On being asked about their maiden campaign in the I-League Neroca head coach Gift Raikhan said he will go game by game.

"Two years ago we and Minerva Punjab both tried to win the 2nd Division I-League, that year Minerva were successful but last year we managed to win the 2nd division and that too unbeaten throughout the season.

"Both Minerva and Neroca are very young squads but also have experienced players in Gouramangi Singh and Sushil Singh. It will be interesting to watch them battle for 3 points," he added.

Statistically Minerva are unbeaten against Neroca.

In the 2015-16 2nd Division I-League Minerva managed to beat Neroca at home by 3-2 and drew the second match. But Raikhan simply brushed off the stats and said, "Past is past. Let`s focus on what`s about to come."