Chennaiyin FC eyes three points against East Bengal at home

CHENNAI: Chennaiyin FC will look to secure all three points as they face East Bengal FC in an early evening kick-off at the Marina Arena on Saturday.

After two international breaks and a handful of matches, Chennaiyin FC currently occupies the seventh spot in the league table. With Owen Coyle consistently eyeing the January transfer window; this home game becomes crucial for players to step up and prove themselves. Jordan Murray, who is expected to make the team on Saturday, had a challenging start to the season due to an injury. Despite coming off the bench, he has been making strides in the team. Speaking at the pre-match conference, Jordan said, “My injury at the start of the season was a minor setback, but my job was to come on and make an impact. For me, it was about putting my head down, working as hard as I can, and doing everything for the club, irrespective of whether I start or come off the bench. The team comes first.”

Owen discussed how young players in the team are stepping up to fill in for those injured, citing the example of the match against FC Goa at home. Aakash Sangwan’s absence due to injury led to youngster Sachu Siby taking up the position. Owen said that, “Losing Aakash was a significant blow, and it was challenging to replace someone like for like because we don’t have that quality of a player to cover in that position. However, we’ve got young players who aspire to reach that level and Sachu answered the call that night.”

Looking ahead to the final leg of this year’s schedule, Owen emphasized, “We’ve got six big games ahead of us, and that’s where we need to shift our focus so that we become competitive by January and then build up a really strong second half of the season.”

— JSG