Beaten 6-1 by Auckland in the first-leg semi-final, Ba had two players, Avinesh Suwamy and Meli Codro, sent off during the encounter and they will now have to do without the pair in the return leg. However, Malakai Tiwa, one of Ba’s highest scorers, and Laisenia Raura will both return to the side after serving their suspensions.
While confident, Ba manager Iliyaz Khan says the team is aware of the difficult task they are faced with.
“We will be playing at home and it is a big advantage for us since we will be backed by the fans. We need to win by five clear goals if we want to play in the final,” Khan says.
“Anything can happen in 90 minutes of football so we are confident of getting the five goals we need. Malakai Tiwa and Laisenia Raura will make their return to the side after missing last week’s match and we are looking for a positive result playing Auckland City at home,” he adds.
“The fans need to come and support the players to achieve what they have come out on the field to do. Avinesh Suwamy and Meli Codro will be missing for the match but we will have the two others returning.”
Last week’s goal scorer Tuimasi Manuca says his side will be working on things that didn’t go to plan in Auckland and are regrouping for the return leg at Govind Park.
“We’ll try to improve on what we did wrong and we’ll give a good challenge to Auckland City at home, try to give them a taste of our Fijian style,” Manuca says.
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