Jamshedpur challenge up next for Hyderabad

Hyderabad FC are back in action when they face Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur

Hyderabad: After a tough result in Kolkata against East Bengal FC, Hyderabad FC are back in action when they face Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Thursday.

The Nawabs failed to get off the mark in their first clash of the season while the Red Miners have a point from their first two games and come into this clash on a back of a narrow loss against the Kerala Blasters in the previous game week.

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Coach Scott Cooper has seen the likes of Daniel Chima Chukwu, Alen Stevanovic Jeremy Manzorro, PC Laldinpuia, Elson Dias and TP Rehnesh all stick to their task well this season.

Speaking about the game, HFC First Team Coach Conor Nestor said, “Jamshedpur have done really well in both their games. They are very well organised, defensively solid and I think they pose a big threat as this is their first home game.”

“For us it’s the second game running, away from home, and we need to build on our last performance and take something from this game,” he added.

Having just conceded one goal in two games, Jamshedpur are yet to score a goal in this season’s competition but have proven to be a tough side to beat in both their games, making this a tough contest for Hyderabad.

Conor Nestor’s side put in a valiant effort at the Salt Lake Stadium last weekend, but were undone by a late free-kick, which left the team empty handed.

Hitesh Sharma, who scored the opening goal on that night, along with Joe Knowles, Felipe Amorim, Petteri Pennanen and Mohammad Yasir were effective in attack, and will look to add an end product to the attack.

“We are still in performance mode as it’s a very new group we have,” said Coach Conor. “The hope is to keep improving on performance levels, if we do that the results will come,” he added.

The backline of Nikhil Poojary, Nim Dorjee Tamang, Manoj Mohammad and Joao Victor was also solid but could see some changes with the return of Chinglensana Konsham from National Duty.

While Laxmikant Kattimani will miss a big part of the start of the season, Gurmeet Singh is also back in the squad along with Abdul Rabeeh, adding more options for the Nawabs in this game.

The Nawabs, will however, miss the services of Jonathan Moya and Lalchungnunga Chhangte, both of who are nursing injuries on the sidelines.

Hyderabad beat Jamshedpur 1-0 thanks to a stunner from Mohammad Yasir on their last trip to the City of Steel and will hope to put in a similar or stronger performance and get off the mark in the points table with a positive result in this game.

With plenty of rain leading to the game and plenty more in store on Matchday, this could be yet another game of football for Hyderabad influenced by rain.