Labasa Coach Opts For Underdog Tag
The Labasa football team will go in as underdogs when they host Tailevu/Naitasiri in Saturday’s Digicel Premier League clash at Subrail Park, says a team official.
Labasa coach, Ravneel Pratap, told SUNsports that they respect Tailevu/Naitasiri for their outstanding performance. The Babasiga Lions are placed at the bottom of the DPL points table and must beat Tailevu/Naitasiri to move up.
Pratap said playing against a quality opposition like Tailevu/Naitasiri means they must lift their game to beat them.
He indicated that on a positive note their goal-scoring department has improved after scoring five goals against Ba and one in the loss to Nadi.
The no-nonsense coach said they would continue to stress the importance of raising their performance because they are now pressured to win their remaining matches.
“My players are realising the importance of this and the need for us to qualify for the Digicel Fiji FACT tournament in Sigatoka”.
Pratap said preparations have not gone according to plan due to the unavailability of the ground.
He indicated that they were using portions of ground two at Subrail Park for their daily training, but, the ground condition is not up to standard.
“No school is giving us permission to use their ground for training,” he said.
Pratap said the commitment shown by the players after their last match has been overwhelming.
“There is a change of attitude in the team. Our players tried to beat Nadi despite I was unavailable to coach them because I had to attend a B-Licence coaching workshop,” he said.
“We have ironed out all disciplinary issues,” he added.
Meanwhile, key players like Iliesa Nayasi, Edwin Sahayam and Ashnil Raju are still nursing injuries.
Pratap said Sahayam and Raju should recover in time for the all-important game.
“Nayasi has not been training because of a dislocated shoulder so we will monitor and analyse his recovery to determine whether he will play or not,” he said.
Veteran Labasa striker Taniela Waqa is still away in Lautoka while technical advisor, Ronil Lal, is currently helping the national under 16 and 19 teams.
The match kicks off at 1.30pm.
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