Need to put up good fight against East Bengal, says Thomas Brdaric

The last time Chennaiyin FC played in Kolkata, they defeated ATK Mohun Bagan.

Chennaiyin FC currently find themselves seventh in the league table with four points from three matches. The team began their campaign with a win against ATK Mohun Bagan before playing out a draw against Bengaluru FC. In the most recent fixture, the Marina Machans went down against FC Goa and will be aiming to bounce back and bag home all three points and climb up the ISL table. The pre-match press conference ahead of the East Bengal game was attended by head coach Thomas Brdaric and Goal Keeper Debjit Majumder.

Here's what they said.

What went wrong after the first win against ATK Mohun Bagan?

After a victory in the first match against ATK Mohun Bagan Chennaiyin FC drew against Bengaluru FC and lost to FC Goa at the Marina Arena. In all the games Chennaiyin conceded early goals. 

The coach said, ”In the last match against FC Goa, we created a lot of chances but couldn't convert them and also the defence was not up to the mark. We have analysed the game and shall improve the next time.”

Thoughts about East Bengal

East Bengal have lost three games in four matches with the only victory coming against North East United. The team has its strengths and should look to capitalize on them.

Thomas Brdaric opined, ”East Bengal is an interesting and huge club in India and playing against them will be a challenge. They have good some strengths which we need to restrict and put up a good fight showing our strength tomorrow.”

Preparation after a long break

Chennaiyin FC will be back playing their fourth encounter after a gap of almost two weeks. The side had good preparation time with few players back from small injuries.

Thomas Brdaric said that his boys feel rejuvenated and are battle-ready. "We utilized the break to recover. We analysed our game and trained hard and are motivated for the match. The most important factor is that we must be strong mentally to face any situation. I am happy that my boys have that mental fortitude,” he said.

On Nasser El Khayatti's fitness

Nasser was brought in as a late substitute in the first match but since has not featured in any matches. He was brought in late and needed some training to get match-fit. 

“Nasser didn’t have enough preparation. All players, including Indians and foreigners, need to have good preparation in my team to be able to play a match. That way we are going to get results. Nasser is a good player and has a lot of strengths. He will get some minutes tomorrow. So it will be a chance for him to show that he wants to play and is motivated to play,” the tactician said.

The speciality of East Bengal

The Marina Machans have played at the VYBK before and the stadium is very huge. Undoubtedly, East Bengal will have good crowd support in the game. Chennaiyin will need to adapt to the conditions and play positively. 

The 47-year-old said, “We analyse and study their previous games and the side looks like a good team overall. All the teams are almost equal and the teams need to capitalize on the small mistakes that determine the result. The stadium is huge and they will have good home support which makes the match more interesting for us.”

Thoughts on Prasanth K’s performance to date

Prasanth K was brought from Kerala Blasters pretty late and did not have the luxury of a larger preparation time. After a poor performance in the first match, he came back strongly, scoring the equalizer against Bengaluru FC.

Thomas Brdaric stated, “I first look at the team’s performance and then look at the individual contributions to the team. Prasanth had a poor game against ATK Mohun Bagan here in the first match but came back strongly against Bengaluru FC. He did not have much time in the pre-season but has been performing well in the short span.”

Any injury concerns

There were a few injury concerns before with both Alexander Romario Jesuraj and Vincy Baretto not playing the initial matches. Before the East Bengal clash, the coach shared the injury status of his team.

He addressed, “Karikari will not be playing tomorrow. Thapa is back to training after a week due to a small muscle injury.”