Will try to be in the playoffs again, says KBFC's Ivan Vukomanovic 

The Blasters will be facing unbeaten Mumbai City in Kochi.

Kerala Blasters will hope to continue their unbeaten run as they will face Mumbai City FC on Sunday in the ISL at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi. Ahead of the home match KBFC coach Ivan Vukomanovic and central midfielder Ivan Kalyuzhnyi addressed the media at their pre-match press conference.

What made you join ISL and KBFC?

Kaliuzhnyi said that following the war in Ukraine he was about to join a Polish club but it didn’t happen. He then received an offer from Kerala Blasters, wanted to keep his family safe and thus he reached India.

“When war started in Ukraine I went with my family to Europe. There was an offer from a Poland club. Then my Ukraine club denied an agreement with the Polish club. Then my agent said there is one club in India. I told him to speak with this club. Because I don't want to go back to Ukraine. Because it was not safe. Also, I want my family to stay in a safe place. Then signed a contract with Kerala Blasters.”

Future at Kerala Blasters

Kaliuzhnyi said that it is difficult for him to stay at KBFC since he is not a free agent. He added that if he was free he would have said yes because he loves playing here.

“It is difficult because I’m not free. If I’m free I’d say yes. I’m happy here. I want to continue playing in this club.”

Mumbai City are unbeaten this season. Could Kerala Blasters beat them in the upcoming match?

Coach Ivan Vukomanovic said that this league is unpredictable, anything can be possible and he cannot say that his side will surely beat Mumbai. He also said that every game is difficult.

“I am not sure. This league is many times very unpredictable. Anything is possible in this league. This is my personal experience from last season and this season as well. We always see difficult games. We always see that the teams can suffer a lot.”

About the next match against Mumbai City FC

Ivan Vukomanovic stated that Mumbai City is one of the teams that have many quality players. He said that the one thing he is looking for in the next match is when his team has more ball possession they have to explore it with quick decision making skills.

“Mumbai City FC tend to have a group of domestic players, national team players with quality. Their individual quality, especially talking about foreigners, these players can always make a difference. Sometimes when they face these teams, sometimes they allow you to play, but when they have the ball they can create danger anytime.

"In that case facing those teams you have to be defensively on top not to allow them to give space not to allow them to have possibilities to harm you in these individual actions. When you have the ball possession you have to explore the space that you have. Try to be quick in your decision making moments,” he explained.

Sandeep is suspended for a match. Are you happy with the backup option that you have in his position?

The coach said that he is happy with the squad he has. He said that if one player is not available, there will be somebody who can easily take up that role.

“I’m happy with the squad we have. Whoever is not there due to suspension or whatever it is we have somebody else to jump in and do the job.”

About injury concerns

The Serbian said that there are no injury concerns so far and Sandeep Singh is unavailable as he is under suspension.

“No. So far we only have one suspension. That is Sandeep Singh. All others are available for Sunday’s game.”

What are the points that make you as a coach so far?

He said that as a coach he doesn't feel like changing anything that happened. He added that his only aim is to get his team into the play-offs like last season.

“If I look back to the start I would say I will not change anything. December and January are the most important parts where you have to be strong, tough, and collect points in order to be on the top. So I will try to collect more points and be in the play-offs again.” 

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