Bastob Roy: We are always looking to win the tournament

The ATK Mohun Bagan assistant coach spoke ahead of the clash against home team Gokulam Kerala.

ATK Mohun Bagan kick off their Super Cup campaign on Monday, 10 April when they face I-League giants Gokulam Kerala. The Mariners come into this game hot on their Indian Super League (ISL) playoff title win a few weeks ago and with momentum on their side. Assistant coach Bastob Roy addressed the media in the pre-tournament press conference.

However, they will be facing a Gokulam Kerala side who will come in as the hosts. As a result, the Malabarians will have home-field advantage and it’s safe to say that the majority of the fans in the stadium will be cheering for them.

Feeling in the camp

Ahead of the game, ATK Mohun Bagan assistant coach Bastob Roy attended the media duties in the pre-match press conference. Speaking on the general feeling in the camp ahead of the Super Cup, he said:  “We are ready for the Super Cup. The momentum is really high in the squad after the ISL win. We are focused on the tournament.”

Favourites tag

Roy insisted that ATKMB’s ISL win shouldn’t create the feeling that they’re automatic favorites for the Super Cup because of the differences in the competition. He explained: “We are always looking to win the tournament. The ISL and the Super Cup are not the same, it’s a completely different format. One is played in a centralized venue and another is in a home-and-away format.

Challenging group stages

“We are motivated to win all tournaments. The group stages will be very tough in the three matches, so it’s not an easy task and a challenging task for the team. The players are working hard and hopefully, we’ll get a good result against Gokulam Kerala,” he also added.

Home advantage for Gokulam

Finally, Bastob also admitted that the Mariners have a tough task ahead of them against a challenging side like Gokulam – who also have home fans on their side. He said: “We’re facing Gokulam in the first team and they’re a good team who have come all the way to the group stages because of good results. The main advantage for them will be home support.

“Everyone knows that they’ll have their supporters in the stands as they’ll play on home soil. It’ll be a tough task for us. Normally, I feel among the group stages, this match is very important because if we lose the first match, we’ll mostly have to go back home. We’ll need to be motivated to take things one game at a time and look to win this one,” the assistant coach finished off with.