NEW DELHI: SC East Bengal and Odisha FC, two teams who have had disappointing seasons will look to end the campaign on a high when they face off in their final league match at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Saturday.
Odisha lie at the very bottom of the table with only nine points from 19 games. They have won the least number of games, lost the most games and kept the least clean sheets. Their winless run now stands at ten games.
East Bengal haven't fared much better and are ninth with 17 points from 19 matches. For the millions of supporters, it has been a season to forget and surely the management will be eyeing next season to make amends. The biggest problem that the Kolkata giants have faced is their lack of a goalscoring striker which has meant they lie at the very bottom of the goals scored list.
Coach Robbie Fowler has tried Indian as well as foreign options but no one has managed to bulge the net yet. Even though the season is at an end, the Red and Golds will be playing for pride and to put a smile on the faces of the millions of fans of the club.
"We are all professionals and nobody needs extra motivation when playing for this club. Millions of fans will be watching and we will try to end the season on a high," the former Liverpool striker said.
Odisha has had similar woes throughout the season. Except for Diego Mauricio, no other player stepped up in the goalscoring department. Mauricio was responsible for 57 percent of the goals that his team scored all season. Odisha coach Steven Dias though believes that his team will learn from their mistakes and come back stronger in the next season. “When you have a bad season there is always good to learn so many things out of this bad season. That’s what we are all doing. This season isn’t that good for us but there are so many things to learn from this season so we can get better next season,” he said.