I-League: TRAU look to maintain momentum against Gokulam

Kolkata, Feb 12 High-flying Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) will look to distance themselves from other mid-table sides when they face Gokulam Kerala in the I-League on Friday at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan here.

TRAU defeated Aizawl FC in their last match courtesy of a stellar counter-attacking performance that saw star striker Komron Tursunov's early strike to be the difference between the two sides in a 1-0 win. A victory would help TRAU momentarily go level on points with league leaders Churchill Brothers.

Gokulam have had a mixed season so far as they sit in the bottom half of the table with seven points from six games. However, Vincenzo Annese's side still have a chance to make up lost ground and move up into the top half of the table. To do so, they have to start by defeating the high-flying TRAU.

"Getting a good start to the game is what every coach wants. We have scored a few early goals this season. That has been a result of the hard work of the players, on the field as well as on the training ground," said TRAU head coach Nandakumar.

"Gokulam Kerala FC are a very skilled, and mature team. We have seen their attack at full force against Punjab and NEROCA FC. They have different attacking options who have found the net regularly."

Gokulam coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese said that the team has to find consistency. "We lacked a lot of things in the last game. Moreover, Mohammedans returned to form. There were a lot of negatives, we need to learn from that and find our feet," he said.

( With inputs from IANS )