Kickstart FC, Sirvodem look for improvement ahead of the IWL clash

Bhubaneswar: After the comfortable victory in their first match of the fifth edition of the Indian Women's League (IWL), Kickstart FC will start as favourites while facing Sirvodem Sports Club on Wednesday.

Sirvodem SC on the other hand will eye redemption after their defeat against Arrows in their opening match.

Speaking on the upcoming fixtures Sirvodem head coach Chitra Gangadhar said, "We will focus on enhancing our performance in the next match. As most of our girls are young and first-timers to high-intensity tournaments at this level. This tournament is an opportunity for our players to test their abilities.

Quizzed about her take ahead of the next match, the gaffer said, "We face a strong opponent and are looking for good exposure and experience for our players who are ready to give their 100 percent on the pitch."

Chitra also highlighted the importance of improving the mental health of her players. "We are focusing on improving the mental strength of our players. That will help them handle these kinds of challenges. We are also trying to improve our teamwork and are looking forward to playing as per the tactical plan," she said.

Kickstart clinched a comfortable 3-1 win against PIFA in the first match. Despite the positive start, Kickstart head coach Amrutha Aravind is not willing to consider themselves favourites. Rather she intends to work more on her team's weaknesses.

She said, "After the first match we have recognised our weaker zones and we are working on them."

She believes, "In the first match, we were lacking combination play between our stoppers and midfielders while defending. We need to work on that in order to gather positive results."

Speaking about their opponents, the Kickstart coach said, "We look at them as a good side managed by an experienced coach and thus we are working hard to make sure we grab full points against them."