Action returns to the Maidaan as Hyderabad host Bengaluru

Hyderabad: After a hard-fought point against Mumbai City away from home, the Nawabs are back in action when they welcome Bengaluru FC to the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Gachibowli in a 5:30pm kick-off on 4 November.

The Blues, who are fresh from a 3-2 loss at Odisha, currently sit 10th in the Indian Super League table, with four points from five games. Hyderabad remain bottom, but can move to 11th with a positive result in this tie.

Simon Grayson’s side have seen mixed results in the last few games, and will look to put in a strong performance at the weekend. Sunil Chhetri and Ryan Williams were on the scoresheet in the last game, while Curtis Main, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Slavko Damjanovic, Suresh Wangjam and Rohit Kumar have all been impressive in bits when available.

Former HFC stars Halicharan Narzary and Rohit Danu started the last game on the wings and will also be a threat to the Nawabs who will find it tough this weekend, says First Team Coach Conor Nestor.

“For me BFC have been very unlucky not to have more points,” he said.

“They have missed some key players so far but now they look like they are about to click. We have to be at our best,” Coach Conor added.

Hyderabad finally got off the mark in the points table with their first goal in over 360 minutes of football in the ISL, last weekend against the Islanders. Joe Knowles, Mohammad Yasir, Aaren D’Silva, Petteri Pennanen and Joao Victor have not made the most of the chances created in the last few games.

But Hyderabad have stayed solid at the back, with Chinglensana Konsham, Oswaldo Alanis and Nikhil Poojary looking solid in the last couple of games. Gurmeet Singh has also been in top form but they will have to better their performances and the results, says Coach Conor.

“With each day in training the team is looking better but we need to turn it on for match days. Especially at home,” he added.

Naorem Roshan will miss this game for BFC, for the Red Card he picked up in the game against Odisha while Laxmikant Kattimani is back in training but is still unavailable for selection ahead of this game.

With every point crucial for the teams at the bottom end of the table, this clash is expected to produce some fireworks in Gachibowli on Saturday.

The game kicks-off at 5:30 pm IST on November 4.