We are now going into every game thinking we can win- Stephen Constantine

The India tactician is optimistic of getting a positive result in his team's AFC Asian Cup campaign opener against Thailand on Sunday.

It was in 2011, when India last played in the AFC Asian Cup, and now the Blue Tigers are back again. Although they were ousted out of the group stage in that year, this time it is a different squad with a lot of youth and bits of experience.

The Sunil Chhetri-led side meet Thailand on 6th January (7:00 PM), at the Al Nahyan Stadium in UAE, for their opening Group A fixture. Ahead of the upcoming fixture, the Blue Tigers' gaffer Stephen Constantine met the media alongwith goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

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It is known that if India wants to notch a positive result, they need to have a watertight defence. The backline would probably consist of Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Subhashish Bose, and custodian Sandhu. Gaffer Constantine has already mentioned earlier that there is no pressure on his team, and that they can prove to everyone that they deserve to be in this continental showpiece.

The Englishman said, "There is no pressure on us. Four years ago, no one expected us to qualify. After we qualified everyone was thinking that we are going to lose the three games. It’s up to us to prove that we deserve to be here. I think the mentality of the team has changed over the years. When I took charge of the team the mentality was to not try to lose by too many goals. I think that has changed in four years. We are now going into every game thinking we can win."

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When asked about his upcoming opponents, the former Rwanda coach said, "Thailand are technically very good and they have got a number of very good players. They are in top form. They run around a lot and they interchange very well." The Thais have scored 17 goals in their last six competitive matches.

Will @chetrisunil11 score against Thailand in @IndianFootball's #AsianCup2019 opener?#IndianFootball #BackTheBlue #AsianDream #AFCAsianCup2019What do you think? pic.twitter.com/6yIMdZ2C02

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) January 5, 2019

Sunil Chhetri seems to be pretty positive ahead of India's opening encounter

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Meanwhile, ISL's Bengaluru goalkeeper who was in the conference alongwith the Briton, said, "We are not an easy team to play against. We will try to be positive and stay consistent in the group stages, forget what happened in the past and take it from there." The former Stabaek man has been in decent form for his Indian Super League club this season, and will be aiming to put in his best performance tomorrow against the Thais."

The Blue Tigers will be going into their opening match. brimming with confidence, and have been in decent form over their past six fixtures, and are currently ranked 97th by FIFA. In the previous six matches, India has won two matches, lost two, and drawn two. In the process, they have also scored seven goals, conceded five, and kept two clean sheets.