Juan Ferrando: Our focus is to execute our plan and get three points

The ATK Mohun Bagan head coach gave an update on the team's fitness issues.

ATK Mohun Bagan hope to jump back into the Indian Super League (ISL 2022-23) league-stage championship race by defeating the unbeaten Mumbai City on Saturday. Juan Ferrando's side are among the rare teams to take away points from Mumbai this season and hope to do one better by ousting them at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Ferrando focused on major objective ahead of Mumbai City clash

Juan Ferrando is aware of his side’s poor record against Mumbai City, having been unable to win any of the games ATKMB have played against Mumbai. But he still wants his side to focus on their plan rather than this record, as he said before the game: “For us the plan remains the same, we try to get three points and keep the ball and play in attack. We plan to keep this as the same - sometimes we get success and sometimes we don’t.

“We keep this mentality all the time. Sometimes we need to change special details against this team. Our earlier performance against Mumbai City was very good and I hope we play against them at the same level in the upcoming game," he added.

What kind of challenge can Mumbai City bring?

When asked about what kind of a challenge he expects from Mumbai City, the Spaniard explained: “The last two months have been very difficult for us as we have struggled to field teams in the training session. Now, more or less, we are better in that situation but have improved in some details. The performance of Mumbai in recent games has been very good and our mentality is to try and get three points. We need to put attention in the last passage of Mumbai. Our focus is to execute our strategy and our plan and try to play for three points, because it’s very important, as we play at home.”

Expectations from new signings

Speaking about what one can be expecting from the new foreign signings Slavko Damjanovic and Federico Gallego, Juan Ferrando said: “I think all the season it’s the same. In the case of Slavko, everyone knows he’s brought in as (Florentin) Pogba is injured all the season and Gallego has been brought in as (Joni) Kauko is injured all through the season. Both players know our style and our mentality as well as footballing point of view. We don’t need to change anything in our plan. Of course, when it comes to replacing Joni with Gallego, it’s necessary to change some details with the positions because both players have quality but operate in different positions. But our tactical plan is to play in attack and get the three points.”

Ferrando deals blow to Deepak Tangri and other injury issues

Finally, when asked about the fitness of his squad, Ferrando gave a worrying update on midfielder Deepak Tangri and also spoke about the other issues in the squad. He said: “I think it’s difficult to say that because we continue with our recovery from injuries. Also, (Deepak) Tangri is out for the rest of the season. We’ll see with Manvir, he continues to deal with problems. This season has been difficult for us, but I’m happy because I feel like after the first game, we have six foreign players available for the first time since then. I’m happy because we have options available, we have six foreign players ready to play and this is important for me to work on helping Manvir re-join the training.

“In the case of Tangri, it’s difficult to ascertain his return as he only had surgery last Monday. It’s difficult for the club to prepare for the matches because of a lot of important injuries. But this is part of football, it’s important to not change the mentality and try to play for three points. We have a very good squad and very good players. I’m disappointed because the injuries have never allowed all of our players to work together day by day,” he finished off.