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ISL: FC Goa look to reach playoffs with win over ATK (Preview)

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Margao, Feb 27 (IANS) FC Goa will aim for a win to take them to the playoffs when they take on stragglers ATK in an Indian Super League (ISL) contest at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

A victory for the hosts will take them to the fourth place, with a point’s advantage over Jamshedpur FC.

One of the most entertaining outfits in ISL history will be aiming for nothing less than three points to get their season back on track.

As for ATK, the Kolkata outfit has not won in seven matches — six of them being losses.

The best ATK can do is finish eighth, if they win both their matches and the teams below them don’t match their results.

The visitors don’t have injury concerns apart from Ryan Taylor, but confidence is certainly low.

However, they have nothing to lose and their assistant coach Bastab Roy said that it would make for good watching.

“We don’t have any psychological edge — in fact, the situation is not in our favour. But it will be a good open match for the spectators,” he said.

He would not be drawn into the details of what had gone wrong for the side: “This is not the right time to discuss what went wrong. That (discussion) will be after the season. Something is going wrong in the last 15-20 minutes and FC Goa is a well-balanced team and in the run for the top four. So it’s a tough task and we will give our best,” he added.

Goa are riding high after beating a strong Pune City side 4-0. Most of their top performers clicked on the night — with Ferran Corominas scoring a brace while Manuel Lanzarote and Hugo Boumous also got on the score-sheet.

“If we can do it like last time, then great — but we have to tick a few boxes to win. We have to play good football, try and keep a clean sheet and do multiple things right. We don’t want to just win in any manner,” FC Goa head coach Sergio Lobera said.

“We are at a stage where the game tomorrow is very important for us. We fought a lot to reach here and at this moment in time, (qualification) still lies completely in our hands. Hopefully when the next two games are done, our fans will be happy that their team will be competing in the semi-finals,” he added.

Lobera also reminded his team that all the records and performances of the past won’t matter when they clash again on Wednesday. “Tomorrow is a new scenario,” he said.

–IANS
dm/pur/bg

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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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