CHANDIGARH: Sitting comfortably among the top four in the points table, RoundGlass Punjab FC will restart its I-League 2021-22 campaign after a Covid-enforced break against Churchill Brothers FC Goa on Friday.
RoundGlass Punjab FC began their I-League campaign with a 2-0 win over Rajasthan United in December 2021, after which the league got postponed due to a Covid outbreak. The club resumed on-field training in Kolkata last month, and will now be up against the side from Goa in its second match of the league.
"We re-assembled as soon as we found out that the league was restarting. It was a case of doing a mini pre-season and it is very important that we managed to get all players out from this period free of injury. We've got a tight-knit group and a competitive element to our side," RoundGlass Punjab FC head coach Ashley Westwood said in the pre-match presser on Thursday.
Commenting on his team's opponents, Westwood said, "Churchill Brothers are one of the contenders for the I-League title. We are looking forward to the match and gauge where we stand as a team."
"We shall try to be on the front foot and take the game to the opposition. We will do everything we can to try and win," he added.
Gurtej Singh, defender and captain, Punjab FC said that all the players are working very hard to ensure a win against the tough opponents.
"We cannot wait for the action to kick off. Training has been fantastic, and we are preparing in the best way possible. We hope to make our fans and the people of Punjab proud with our performance," he said.
Goalkeeper Lalthhuamawia Ralte added, "We have been communicating with each other well. During the break, all of us individually trained at home and also got to spend some quality time with our families."
The format of the competition remains the same as before, with all 13 teams to face each other once in a single round-robin format in the first round, after which the league will split into two groups for the second phase.
