Players are fresh, mood is good: Des Buckingham

Des Buckingham spoke highly of Mumbai City FC's opponents Kerala Blasters.

Mumbai City FC are all set to lock horns with Kerala Blasters in their first ISL 2023-24 home fixture. The Islanders were recently hammered by Navbahor in the AFC Champions League, following their brilliant display in the ISL.

The Mumbai-based team defeated NorthEast in their ISL opener and then shared spoils with Odisha at their backyard. The team has travelled a lot over the past few days, and now, playing at home against a formidable opponent like Kerala, will be a huge relief for Des Buckingham and his team.

Let’s take a look at what head coach Des Buckingham and winger Vikram Partap Singh have to highlight about the same:

The mood in the camp

As mentioned above, Mumbai City FC were thrashed by the Uzbekistan-based team Navbahor in the AFC Champions League with a scoreline of 3-0. The Islanders looked perplexed and stunned against Navbahor, and they will be hoping to bounce back against Kerala Blasters.

“The mood is good and we are four games, two Champions League games, two league games into our season; two very different competitions for many reasons. We had a big travel week but we have got everyone fit and fresh now. The mood is good and we had a good start in the ISL campaign,” Des Buckingham shared the mood in the Mumbai City FC camp.

Preparation in the short break

After the Islanders face Kerala Blasters, they will have a short break before travelling to Saudi Arabia to face Al Hilal, a team that boasts players like Neymar, Koulibaly, Mitrovic, Malcom, to name a few. Now, it depends on Mumbai City FC how they utilise this hiatus and prepare for the match against the Asian giants.

“It is no real break for us. We are at a very early path of our season. So, there has been no real break for our players. We are travelling. We play a friendly in the two-week gap between Kerala and the Al Hilal game away. But, we play friendly in between to make sure we build in and get better. We know how important the ISL is to us,” the tactician highlighted the plans regarding preparations during the break.

Gameplan against Kerala Blasters

Kerala Blasters are in red hot form this season, winning both their opening matches against Bengaluru and Jamshedpur at home. Their star man Adrian Luna is looking for the stars this season, and it will be a tough task for the Islanders to stop the Tuskers.

“We played against them many times. It’s my third year now. We had a couple of successful outings both away and home last year against Kerala. But that doesn’t mean it's going to be the case this season. They are a very good team,” Buckingham shed light on the strength of the Kerala Blasters squad.

First home game for The Islanders

Vikram Partap Singh, the winger for Mumbai City FC explained his feelings ahead of the game. He said, “It’s always special playing in front of our crowd, because every time when we score or when we are down, they cheer us up and lift us. It feels good.”

“Playing with Kerala Blasters is always good because they have a huge fan following and this time they have a really good team. They are unbeaten from the last two matches, so I think everyone in our team is motivated to play against them,” he added.