I-LEAGUE Media Team

SHILLONG: With three wins from three away matches, Royal Wahingdoh FC will get to host their first Hero I-League match when they take on Bengaluru FC at the JLN Stadium in Shillong on Saturday.

It has been a dream start to a long and strenuous season of football for the debutantes, but they cannot afford to rest on their laurels when they meet the defending I-League champions and Hero Federation Cup winners.

Bengaluru, led, like last year, by Ashley Westwood, have not had the best of starts to their campaign, however. They have earned just one point from three games and two of those matches were at home. Having just gone down to Kingfisher East Bengal 1-0 on Wednesday, BFC will be under a lot of pressure to come back strongly with very little time against a confident Wahingdoh.

The Royals announced the signing of two defenders – Naoba Singh and Govin Singh – while their team was away putting wins over Salgaocar and Bharat FC.

Although the management is happy with the midfield and front line, they were worried that the defensive line had to be strengthened.

Three victories in the first three fixtures gives RWFC a record – this is the best start to a season by a promoted team. The club are busy behind the scenes in Shillong, motivating people to come out and support them on Saturday and given the way they have been winning the crowds will likely turn out in droves.

Both teams will have had a lot of travelling prior to Saturday’s game and fitness, recuperation and the changes in weather will all play a part, as noted by Wahingdoh coach Santosh Kashyap after the Bharat FC game.

“We came here [Pune] after a 16-hour bus journey from Goa and that was horrible. We are only recovering after that. Now we shall leave at 3 am and reach only in the evening at around 8 pm. Then in two days, we will play a top team Bengaluru FC. So it’s a big challenge for us,” he was quoted as saying.

Match KO: Jan 31 @ 4:30 pm
Social Media Hashtag: #RWFCvBFC