Shillong Lajong will be up against Mohammedan SC in what will be their opening I-League fixture of the 2023-24 season playing away from home at the Naihati Bankimanjali Stadium, West Bengal at 7 pm tomorrow.
In the pre-match press conference that was held earlier today, Head Coach Bobby Nongbet said, “After qualifying for the I-League I am very excited and it was a wonderful experience during the qualifications. I am also excited for this season right from the first match itself, which begins tomorrow against Mohammedan Sporting and it is gonna be a challenging experience for the team.”
He also mentioned that it has been a tough preseason for the club as within a short period of time after qualifications, they have to build the squad and sign the right players but overall he is happy with the squad.
Nongbet said that most of the players have come up from the clubs youth system and the experienced players have returned back to the club such as Phrangki, Kenstar, Kynsai, Allen plus the four foreigners the Club have recruited for this season.
“The players are hungrier and more determined than any other team to play in this season’s I-League after qualifying from the 2nd Division I-League,” he added.
Speaking further about the game tomorrow, the gaffer said, “This will be one of Lajong’s toughest matches this season considering the fact that they are playing away and against a strong team who had won their previous game against Aizawl FC.”
He also applauded coach Andrey Chernyshov and his team for the performance.
The match will be telecast live on Eurosport India as well as streamed on the Indian Football YouTube channel and FanCode for OTT users.