Sporting FC to lock horns with Salgaocar

Having come out of the relegation zone, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa will fight for supremacy as they face-off in their season's last I-league encounter, a Goan Derby, here on Saturday.

The previous encounter at Fatorda Stadium resulted in a 1 – 1 draw. With the top three slots out of reach and both team having already avoided relegation, the match at Tilak Maidan has been rendered inconsequential. For Salgaocar, who have 16 points, a win tomorrow will ensure they collect 19 points overall, the same as Sporting Clube de Goa, and will move them to fourth place as they have better head-to-head count.

Sporting head coach Mateus Costa said, "We always want to finish as high as possible on the table, and now that the third spot is out of reach we would like to maintain our position at fourth."

When asked how Sporting missed out on top three, Costa said, "Some silly draws cost us the top three, we lacked the finishing in those matches and ended up losing some vital points which would have propelled us into the top three."

Costa added, "The derbies are always high pressure games; it's not just the 4th position which is at stake here. With the Federation Cup looming we would really want to win as this can be a huge boost for the players." Sporting would, in all probability, miss the services of their ace striker Odafa Okolie, while Mehrajuddin Wadoo will also miss the fixture owing to the red card he picked up.