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After an action-packed victory over the Kerala Blasters previously, Jamshedpur FC gear up for their next game against Mumbai City FC. Head Coach Owen Coyle talks about the performance of the team in the previous games and overall season so far, update on Jordan Murray’s injury and more.
On the win against Kerala Blasters FC in the previous fixture…
Yeah, it was always going to be a tough game for us as Kerala Blasters are a wonderful side with an outstanding coach whom I have had a lot of time with. So, we knew from the kick-off whistle till the last, we would have to be focused, which we were and on the night we ended up being the winners. Now that the game is behind us, what we have to do is make sure we are ready for an equally tough game against Mumbai City FC who have come through the difficult period that they had as they have wonderful qualities to do that. They have a young coach, Des Buckingham, who is going to have a wonderful career and has a lot of time ahead of him along with some wonderful players. So, it is going to be a tough game but one that we are looking forward to because we know that when we are at our very best, we can win games against tough and top teams which is what we will look to do when getting in the business end of the season where every team is playing their direct rival, so it’s all to play for and we have to make sure we are at our very best.
On the players around Chima being as good as the in-form striker…
I think that’s a very important point. Daniel Chima has done wonderfully ever since he has come in and Greg Stewart has been outstanding all season. Both of them will have Jordan Murray as well with them when he will be fit and available along with Ishan Pandita. But all these lads will tell you that they are only as good as their teammates who have helped them, supplied them with passes. If you look at Chima’s last 2 goals, young Boris puts a great ball from the flank against Bengaluru FC and even against Kerala Blasters with a great ball to him along with a good pull back by Daniel Chima. Even Greg came in with some exciting chances when he had the ball with him but again they are as good as their teammates who are able to supply them with the ball. So what is important is that we think we have talented individual players but our strength is as a group with everybody being together and that is what we will look to do at Jamshedpur FC. We have to be at our very best for sure against a very good Mumbai City FC side.
On the club having 10 different goalscorers being a motivating factor for the team…
It is important to have goals from different areas of the team and not just one dimension which we have in our team with Boris, Len Doungel, Komal Thatal scoring for the club, although we are missing Komal and even Farukh Choudhary for the entire season. So we are missing some important players from our squad but the group is continuing to go on whether it is an injury or a suspension as other lads step in their place like young Ritwik who is yet to score and it is time for him to step up to score. We have wonderful talent, abilities and we give players the needed opportunity which is important moving forward and as I said before, it is nice when we have different players from different positions who can score for the team.
On the injury update of Jordan Murray…
Jordan Murray has started training back with the group and his training has improved each day. He trained very well today, so we will give him every chance of him being in the line-up and maybe get him 10-15 minutes on the pitch depending on how his training continues. But to have someone like him back in the squad will be very important. He is a wonderful player, great within the group and is a huge part of the spirit that we have with Jordan, Greg and lads like them who play their part in the team. So, let’s hope that Jordan is able to get involved against Mumbai City FC.
On the selection difficulty for the front when Jordan Murray is match fit…
Line-up selection is already a headache with Ishan playing in the same position as Daniel Chima and then Jordan Murray is a starter who has shown that he is an outstanding player. So that brings real competition in the team with Chima, Jordan, Ishan Pandita who has been wonderful and I have to say, in terms of how he has been with the group, he is an outstanding man.
On the character of Mumbai City FC which helped them recover from a rough patch…
It tells us that in terms of mentality, they have a very strong one and I know that because within their leadership they have very good people in their staff who are very knowledgeable and know the sport well. Even in their difficult period of time, they were still picking up draws here and there and even in their narrow games that they lost, they could have easily been won by them. So the margins were very fine and Mumbai might have made some errors but whatever it was, they have corrected it and are looking very strong as a team now, as we do too. The main goal in the game will be to make sure we are at our very best and be respectful of the quality they have which we have to be ready for. With Igor Angulo, Cassio, Jahouh and some wonderful Indian talents, Chhangte who has come in from Chennaiyin, Bipin Singh who was in great form in the last game, they have wonderful players who we have to be respectful of. But they know Jamshedpur is a good side as well and that we can go toe-to-toe with anybody which is what we will look to do.
On the regrets of the three losses which could have gone in Jamshedpur FC’s favour…
Obviously there is no delight in losing games. Particularly, the last game against Mumbai City FC in which we had a terrible start with a 3 to nothing on the scoreboard within an early period of time. There were clinical finishes from Mumbai City FC but some goals were self-inflicted. I think that’s a part of the reason; we lose games when we make individual mistakes as we did against Bengaluru FC, who had no shot on target in the game against us. But if you make bad mistakes, then you’ll be punished and we have to make sure we are focused, concentrated and do not make any mistakes and on the other end, we have to make sure we are clinical with the opportunities we create as we always create chances and have lots of attempts at goal. We have to make sure we do the same against a very good Mumbai City side.
