Defending champions Delhi Waveriders will look for their first win in Hockey India league when they take on Jaypee Punjab Warriors at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here on Friday. Playing first game on home turf after drawing their previous two ties to UP Wizards and Ranchi Rays by smiliar scoreline of 2-2, the Sardar Singh-led side would be eager to make the most of home support and climb themselves out of the bottom of the standings.
Punjab, after three games with two wins and a draw, are at the top of the table and have scored ten goals in the process — most by a team so far. Delhi had beaten Punjab in the final of the previous edition and this result is likely to play in the mind of the visiting side.
Australian defender Mark Knowles, who’ll miss the game due to a suspension for his conduct against UP Wizards, said: “Over the past couple of seasons, Delhi have been the in-form team and everyone is playing catch up. We won one and lost one to them last season before the final. We’re in a good place at the moment but we know we can be in such a better place.”
Delhi’s coach and former player Cedric D’Souza remained positive despite the discouraging results and described the team as a work in progress. “We’ve analysed ourselves in terms of how we’ve played in the past matches. We’re also continuously working on rectifying the mistakes we committed and ensure that we don’t repeat them in future,” he said. live on Star Sports at 7:00 PM