Picture courtesy: Kerala Blasters FC
Kerala Blasters FC player-cum-coach David James is fully focused on their last 2014 Hero Indian Super League (ISL) encounter against FC Pune City today.
Kerala Blasters and Pune City have 16 points to their tally and both sides need to win the final league stage match to secure them a semifinal spot.
“We played Pune before and we won (1-2), but the positive thing about the fixture is that both sides have to win and the equivalent results from the Kolkata and Delhi games affect both teams in the same way,” the former England goalkeeper stated during the pre-match press conference yesterday. “We have only one defeat at home, thanks to a moment of brilliance from Chennai, and this is what gives us confidence going into tomorrow’s game.”
“I am fortunate that I have had a squad of 28 players to train and select for the game tomorrow. We are in a good position to put a good squad out for tomorrow’s game.”
“When you compare schedules of other leagues to the Hero Indian Super League, it is unique, as the last games of the other leagues are all played together on the same day; but I am ok with it.”
“But we have one focus, that is, beating Pune, and even if the Delhi result goes against us, we still want to win it.”
“If we had won our last three home games, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Because of last night’s result (Mumbai City FC beat Atlético de Kolkata 2-1), there are a couple of options that could go our way.”
Asked about possible changes to the Kerala Blaster line-up, James said, “With regards to me, I am fit, but it gets hard to tell Sandy (Sandip Nandy) to sit out, especially after he won the Hero of the Match award in the previous game. Also, the players that I have selected have been playing well, and sometimes, the system I play also relates to the players I have and the opposition that we are playing against.”