NEW DELHI: It has not been the best of seasons for Chennaiyin FC. They have a solitary win from their last eight outings while now being hit by the news that their inspirational skipper Rafael Crivellaro has been ruled out for the entire season. They will be hoping to get their season back on track against bottom dwellers Odisha FC when the two teams clash at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Sunday.
The two-time champions are currently eighth with 10 points from nine matches, with only two wins, while Odisha are at the bottom with five points from the same number of matches.
Chennaiyin let in four goals against Hyderabad, the same number they conceded in their first four matches. Add to it their misfiring attack which has scored only eight goals, the lowest in the league, and coach Csaba Laszlo has a lot to ponder.
"In the previous game, we lost without Crivellaro. We didn't have a good pre-season. We had to replace some players. We had to begin practically anew. He is not just our captain but a very important player.
"Also, tactically I have to work differently. We played 4-2-3-1. I will not change that very much, but this is life and I don't want to make injury an excuse. We have to win the next game and get back to business. We have enough resources to replace Crivellaro. We have to talk about solutions and not about problems," he explained.
For Stuart Baxter, his Odisha team will be buoyed by the fact that they scored four past Kerala Blasters FC in their last game which gave them their first win of the campaign. Diego Mauricio is in red-hot form with the Brazilian scoring half of his team's 10 goals while Jerry Mawihmingthanga is joint top for assists with four.
"Diego has been dangerous and clinical when we get him in the right positions. He is still learning the way that we want him to play. Sometimes, with players like Diego, you have to be careful not to put him in a little box and ask him to do the things the more average players would do. There are certain things that we expect from him to allow the other players to function. So I think Diego is in that process and doing a decent job. If he continues to score goals while he's learning, we are all happy," Baxter said.