ISL: Kerala, CFC in battle for play-offs berth

Kochi: With three spots in the ISL playoffs still up for grabs, arch-rivals Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyin FC will go all out in a penultimate round meeting at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.

Third in the table on 28 points, Chennaiyin need a win to seal qualification while Kerala, four points adrift and fifth in the standings, would need to win both their remaining matches and hope for JFC and Goa to slip up.

The mood appears to favour Kerala’s chances as Goa have been in freefall since late January, managing just two points in their last five matches and Steve Coppell’s Jamshedpur were halted by a late Mohammed Rafi equaliser in Chennai last week. But Kerala head coach David James has refused to see the recent developments as a good omen.

“I’m not superstitious and am not going to rely on anything other than place confidence in my players.  After the two defeats (against JFC and Goa in January) the objective has been the same, to win six games. The draw against ATK (round 15) was a tough one; it wasn’t in the plan. But it (against Chennaiyin) is a massive game and we want three points,” he said on the eve of the clash.

In the continued absence of top scorer Iain Hume, Icelandic striker Gudjon Baldvinsson should lead the line with C.K. Vineeth, Jackichand Singh and Courage Pekuson roaming behind. Wes Brown, who scored his maiden ISL goal last week against NorthEast United will marshall the defence alongside Sandesh Jhingan while Rino Anto and Prasanth K. are likely to continue as fullbacks and Subhasish Roy in goal. Chennaiyin will be without centre-back Mailson Alves, who is suspended, but Dhanpal Ganesh is available after serving his suspension. Jeje Lalpekhlua will be up front and Rafi will be pushing for a start.