Marco Pezzaiuoli’s Bengaluru FC will look to claim a second win of the season when they take on Hyderabad FC at the GMC Athletic Stadium, in Bambolim, on Wednesday. The Blues are level on points with Manuel Marquez’s Hyderabad side, albeit having played a game more, heading into the fifth gameweek of the 2021-22 Indian Super League campaign.

“Hyderabad FC are a mix of good youngsters and good experienced players and foreigners. They want to play football; they have quick players like Ogbeche in front who is good in the air. I think they are one of the better teams in the League. It’s going to be a very tough game, but we want to start in the right away and make it difficult for Hyderabad FC,” Pezzaiuoli said, speaking to the press on the eve of the game.

Bengaluru began their campaign with a win over NorthEast United, but have failed to win in three encounters since, drawing against Kerala Blasters and going down to Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC. Hyderabad, meanwhile, have a similar record, with their only win of the campaign coming against League leaders Mumbai City FC.

“I think our best game of the season so far came against Mumbai. We developed our style of play, we pressed high and got the ball back very fast, and our counter pressing was also very good. We want to now improve on our set pieces and defending. We could have defended better in certain instances, and we are working on that,” Pezzaiuoli added.

The Blues will continue to be without Leon Augustine, who recovers from an ankle injury, while Pezzaiuoli confirmed that the inclusion of Prince Ibara, Iman Basafa, Udanta Singh and Yrondu Musavu-King would be a late call. Pezzaiuoli also provided an update on Sarthak Golui, who will miss out on the Blues’ matches indefinitely, having left the team bubble to attend to a family emergency.

“Prince Ibara has undergone a test on his adductor, but we’re not sure about his match fitness just yet. We have assessment on Wednesday morning, and we will have to see how he reacts to it before we make a decision. The same goes for Iman, Udanta and King. I also want to provide an update on Sarthak, who has left the team bubble on a family emergency. He will not be available for the next match, and until a further update,” Pezzaiuoli added.

Kick off between the Blues and Hyderabad FC is scheduled for 7.30 PM on Wednesday, and will be telecast live on the STAR Sports Network, Disney+Hotstar and JioTV.

(Bengaluru FC)