Coimbatore to welcome I-League with East Bengal taking on Chennai

Coimbatore :  The city's newly-shaped Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is all set to welcome the I-League with Chennai City FC going head-to-head against Kolkata giants East Bengal on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here, East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil said: "We just aim to play our natural game as we have played all our matches. I never look back into the past and won't do that either. We played positive football in our last game and garnered three important points. The boys are really confident and we are focused on tomorrow's game."

The architect of the last win, Willis Plaza, doesn't feel complacent at all and he stresses on the 'team-effort'. 

"We're really feeling confident, we are in good shape and whether I score or anyone else does, it matters little. The most important thing is the team and to churn out the positive results," the T&T-born striker aired.

On the other hand, the home team coach V. Soundarajan coming back from an emphatic win against Churchill Brothers FC Goa showed his concern over the less 'recovery time' following their away fixture.

He said: "We played our last match on 19th while they (Kingfisher East Bengal) played two days before. Then we had to fly back to Coimbatore. It might be a concern for my boys tomorrow", Soundarajan sounded cautious before the Southern outfit goes out tomorrow for their first home match of the season.

He didn't mince his words praising the Red & Golds ahead of the media.

"They are a well-organised unit and no one can deny that they're one of the top teams in India. They will surely impose a great challenge for us. On the flipside, it's a great advantage for us to gauge our potential", Chennai City FC coach stressed.

He added, "It's our first home match of the season and incidentally this will be our first time at our new home stadium. Hence, it can be termed as an away fixture for us as well."

Soosai Raj, who was handed the armband before the season kicked off, said that it's not putting any extra pressure on him on the pitch.

"We go out to play our normal game. I'm immensely proud to wear the armband but frankly saying, it doesn't put any added pressure on me", the creative midfielder stated.

Meanwhile, the coach rued the soft goals which cost them vital points.

"Actually, our goalkeeper joined us later and the time for adjustment with the team is clearly visible from some last minute lapses in the defence. Anyway, we're improving with each training session and it'll rightly reflect on our performance."

Sydney Vanspaul also chipped in and he sounded pretty confident before taking on the Red & Golds tomorrow.

"We all remember our last seaosn's win and it'll obviously boost us before tomorrow's match. But, everyone will start from the scratch and we have to try our best to repeat the feat again."

Skipper Soosai Raj added, "Our win came at the right moment. Although we're playing some positive football, results were not coming our way. Finally, we got the win which was long overdue."