It will be an advantage for home team Pune Football Club (PFC) as they take on Mumbai Football Club (MFC) in an ONGC I-League match at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, near here on Saturday
With Brazilian striker Edmar Figueira and Shanmugam Venkatesh back in the side, the added advantage for PFC will be the presence of newly-signed striker P Muthu. “We will be playing with our full strength. Playing at home will of course be an added advantage. We are not taking anything lightly as Mumbai FC are a competitive side and their performance is getting better and better with every match,” said PFC coach Derrick Pereira.
Mumbai FC’s foreign players — who were signed up recently — are unlikely to make their debuts. Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil is confident that the team will perform well as the conditions in Pune will favour them. “The weather in Pune is comparatively cooler and playing under floodlights will be a different ballgame,” Jamil said.
Placed 12th in the points tally before this encounter, Mumbai FC have lost two and drew one and that gives the hosts an upper hand. “We have played them and they are a good side, but it all depends on match day,” Jamil added.
PFC have lost one and drawn two games thus far and this will be their third match at home. “The encounter against Sporting Clube de Goa, where we came back to level 2-2, has definitely boosted the morale of the players and I hope they will deliver,” said Pereira.
Pune FC will be looking forward to script their first win in the League.
