Preview: Gangwon FC Vs Daejeon Citizen

Gangwon FC Vs Daejeon Citizen

Wednesday 1st June 2016 7:00PM KST Hyundai Oilbank K League Challenge

Following on from Saturday's stalemate away to fellow playoff hopefuls Busan, Wednesday sees Daejeon tasked with another difficult and gruelling away trip.

Daejeon players applaud the travelling support following the 0-0 draw with Busan. Credit: DCFC.co.kr

This time, Citizen travel north to Chuncheon to take on Gangwon FC, a side who have surpassed many people's expectations this term and top the table with little over a quarter of the season played.

Since Gangwon dropped to the Challenge three years ago, along with Citizen, the nomadic club have built slowly and now look to be ready to mount another serious promotion push; a model that Daejeon could perhaps learn from themselves.

The orange-clad Gangwon FC welcome the Purples following back-to-back wins and, a minor blip aside, a strong sequence of results

Daejeon, themselves, are unbeaten in their last five and only last suffered defeat when Wednesday's opponents Gangwon made the journey to Daejeon earlier in the month.

Gangwon will be hoping a win will wedge some daylight between themselves and fellow automatic promotion-chasers Daegu whilst three points for Daejeon could see the Purples edge closer to those much-coveted playoff spots.

Form Last Six

Gangwon FC: WLLDWW
Daejeon Citizen: LD*WDWD
*Penalty shootout victory

Previous Meetings

Daejeon's last defeat was indeed the last encounter with their Gangwon-do counterparts.

On the 8th May Gangwon made the trip to Purple Arena in a game which showed how relatively little there is between the majority of the sides in the Challenge, certainly those with genuine promotion ambitions.

The contest was evenly matched, and with time running out, neither side looked as though they had the ruthlessness to go on and win the game

Unfortunately for Daejeon, what was also evident was, as is often the case, the teams at the top end of the table usually have their fair share of good fortune; what ensued on 80 minutes was testament to that.

Gangwon tried to work the ball patiently into Daejeon's box but thanks to resilient defending they were thwarted in their attempts.

However, a somewhat fortuitous ricochet saw the ball fall perfectly onto the right foot of Choi Jin-Ho whose resulting deflected shot deceived a flailing Park Ju-Won between the sticks for Daejeon.

Despite the aforementioned defeat Daejeon's record against Gangwon has been extremely favourable, particularly so in the most recent meetings.

The Purples' last visit to Gangwon, in the Autumn of 2014, saw the Purples take all three points back to Daejeon, largely thanks to the brilliance of Adriano.

Adriano's partner in crime, Kim Chan-Hee, put Daejeon ahead on 30 minutes before Wesley Alex equalised for Gangwon with little over 10 minutes to go.

But, as the Brazilian ace often did for Daejeon, Adriano popped up in the 90th minute to send the travelling Daejeon faithful into delirium, and thus ensuring that the long trip back to Daejeon was a happy one.

Daejeon haven't lost in Gangwon since 2012.

Team News

Goalkeeper Park Ju-Won remains a doubt as 25-year-old former Hongik University graduate steps up his recovery from a rib injury.

Meanwhile, Oh Chang-Hyun could be in line for a return following his suspension.

The former Seoul E-Land defender suffered the humiliation of getting himself sent off against his former club when the two sides met just over a week ago.