The Labasa football team must beat Navua in their Vodafone Premier League clash on Saturday night, if they are to avoid being relegated.

The Babasiga Lions’ 3-1 loss to Suva has pushed them to the second last spot of the VPL points table.

Labasa coach, Ronil Lal is hopeful that they will give Navua a good game.

He said there were a lot of areas that they need ed to work on before the travel to the Uprising Resort ground in Pacific Harbour.

“We had to push up numbers, I think that’s where we got caught but overall we played well against Suva,” Lal said.

“Our strikers need to wake up, finishing is the main issue that we have. Despite many attempts made by us during training, I think we have to take a different approach now.

“It’s all about coming together and working hard.”

Lal added that playing against Navua on their home ground would be an advantage for their opposition.

“It will be a tough one for us playing on their turf, so we really need to work harder. Mainly our finishing and crosses need to come in and we need to finish those moves.

“Playing any team at their home is always tough, I think it will be a hard one for us, they will come out firing.

“They know we are beaten today, and they will be out firing so we need to take heed of that and prepare well for Navua.”

Lal hopes that goalkeeper Akuila Mataisuva, who injured his arm on Sunday would recover before the game.

“Akuila is an issue for us, it’s an old injury that occurs time and again. Hopefully, he recovers, otherwise, we have Alzar who will take over,” he added.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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