Aidy Boothroyd: There's unfinished business with Mumbai

The Red Miners will play the Islanders in the AFC Champions League playoffs.

Jamshedpur FC, who finished a lowly tenth in the 2022-23 Indian Super League, face off against Mumbai City FC in a one-shot playoff to decide who represents India for the AFC Champions League. Jamshedpur were the shield winners in 2021-22, and Mumbai City soared to the top of the table this season.

Ahead of the hugely anticipated clash in Manjeri, the Jamshedpur FC head coach spoke to the media and was confident of a good result after ending the ISL season on a high.

Training after a mini break

JFC players and staff had an extended break after not making it to their playoffs. Ahead of a different schedule this for this season, Aidy Boothroyd believes there is unfinished business, “It’s great to be back. We’ve trained for three weeks after a little mini break. The players have been training really hard on their fitness. We’ve had a couple of games, we’ve managed to get the players back to where they were physically and everybody’s very positive and looking forward to the game.”

“Very much so (looking forward to the game). We feel there’s a bit of unfinished business with Mumbai because I thought we played really well at their place and came away with a draw and our game at home we lost in the dying minutes to a mishit cross so we felt a bit aggrieved about that but that’s football, that’s what happens. It’ll be a tough game because they’re a really good team, Shield Champions, but we’re really looking forward to the game. We’ve hit a really good patch of form in the last half of the Hero ISL season and we want to keep that momentum going into the next few games starting with Mumbai.”

Momentum needed

JFC ended a sour ISL season on a very positive note, winning three of their final four matches and drawin the other. A confident Aidy Boothroyd said, “Momentum is extremely important. It’s important that we’re prepared, look at all the potential pitfalls, obviously the heat is going to be a factor so that’s going to mean we play slightly differently at times during the game but again that’s something to be excited about. The fact that we’re in a qualifying situation which is a knockout and I’m hoping we can continue our good form and get a good result.”

“Every away game we fly to so we’re used to travelling now from Jamshedpur. That’s part of being a professional footballer. All the players have been used to the Covid bio-bubble for the last couple of years and I’ve been on plenty of International camps and tournaments away from home so what’s important is everyone gets on and respect’s each other’s space and stick together and while there are difficult moments in games there are also some terrific moments and we have to make sure that we support each other. The team that starts may not necessarily be the team that finishes but when you’ve got good guys who did for the cause, you’ve always got a chance.”

Fans support

Aidy Boothroyd was delighted with the fan support after a poor season in defence of the league shield. The Englishman said, "Thank you to the fans for sticking with us. We had a sticky start to the season. Picked up towards the end which is what we should focus on, it was really positive. The supporters have been very good to me and supportive of me and the staff, that has continued throughout and we feel that we want to put something back in by qualifying for the AFC Champions League and doing well in the Hero Super Cup.”