Owen Coyle: Anirudh Thapa is the best Indian midfielder in the league

The Scotsman is confident that his side can get a positive result in the game against the Kolkata-outfit.

Chennaiyin FC’s playoffs hopes in the Indian Super League are still well and truly alive, but they face a daunting roadblock in the form of ATK on Sunday. Owen Coyle and Co. need to get something out of the game to boost their chances of finishing above Mumbai City FC and Odisha FC in fourth place. Coach’s Corner Owen Coyle remained cautious of the threat tomorrow, but reiterated his confidence in his side to get the job done. He said, “As we do for every game, we come to win. We recognize we’re playing against a very good team. Tomorrow it’s an opportunity between two in-form teams in the league." [KH_ADWORDS type="3" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] "We both have similar agendas to get three points, ATK to get the number one position and us to take a step closer to the top four. They’re a very good team, so it’ll be difficult. But, we’re also a very good team with very good players.” “We’ve shown when we’re at our best that we can cause problems to any defence. ATK are a wonderful team with an outstanding coach. We don’t fear coming here. But, we have to be at our best to get a win tomorrow. It’s an outstanding stadium here and the pitch looks good. I’m looking forward to the match," he added. Owen Coyle refuses to accept anything but a win tomorrow and asserted confidence in his side’s ability to take the fight to ATK. He explained, “Of course we can win tomorrow. When I came in we were at the bottom of the league with Hyderabad. With all due respect to them, you can see where they are. ATK and Chennaiyin are two-time champions for a reason. We have to take our chances to get to the top four position. It's remarkable what we’ve done to be where we are. We have to try and finish our job.” “We must try to win tomorrow against ATK and then at Mumbai. Then we have a game in hand at NorthEast. Everyone had written us off when I came in, but our turnaround has been amazing. ATK are in very good form, so we need to match them and show our quality. But, we can score goals and be creative. We want to win games, but we want people to come and say we enjoyed watching them.” The Englishman hailed his players' role for the turnaround under him, giving special praise for Anirudh Thapa and his side’s character for coming out from the bottom. He said, “I don’t want to speak about any individuals as it’s a collective group. Any coach would tell you, you’d love a pre-season to get an idea of how to play. I had to assess that quickly. We had great players brought to the club. What we had to do was to maximize their quality. What was really important was that draw was never good enough for us. We needed to win games in a way where everyone would enjoy us. We’re working hard in training and that can be seen in games. We can penetrate defences and can be entertaining when we want.” [KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] “It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with the group we have. I have found it extremely enjoyable working with the Indian players. They are getting better with good coaching. For me, Thapa is the best Indian midfielder in the league. He’s so young and he’ll get even better if he wants. The players deserve credit, as they cross the white line. He wants to get better and improve Chennaiyin FC. He keeps pushing himself every day. Our strength is as a group. Everyone is pulling their weight and contributing to us. What has improved is a sense of unity in the team,” he added. Owen Coyle admitted that ATK have had the best attack throughout the season, but stated that his side’s attack is good enough to go toe-to-toe with their threat. He explained,“I think ATK over the course of the season have the best attack. I think we’ve had the best attack in recent games. (Roy) Krishna is an outstanding player. We have to find a way to deal with the challenges tomorrow and understand their challenge. I think the last clean-sheet gives us confidence. It’ll be a game between two very attack-minded teams tomorrow. We have a real threat to ourselves with our boys. It will be a real quality game tomorrow and we'll be ready to deal with their threat.” Anirudh Thapa praised his coach for changing their whole system in ushering the change and hailed his character as well. He said, “The training we’ve been doing has been great. The intensity levels have also increased a lot. The togetherness of the players is massive now. The performances of the team are a proof of how much we’ve improved. We’re like a big family. Everyone is willing to do their best. He’s done his best talking with players, talking individually to improve players. We’re learning a lot from him as he has a lot of experience. He’s not only good for us, but a good human being as well.”

Team News

Thoi Singh is the only absentee for Chennaiyin after he was sent off in their game against Bengaluru FC.

Head-To-Head

Chennaiyin FC have faced fellow two-time winners ATK 13 times in the ISL, winning only three games and losing six in the process. Four matches have been drawn. [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News | Article Continues Below"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Probable XI

Kaith, Renthlei, Sabia, Goian, Lalrinzuala, Vanspaul, Schembri, Crivellaro, Thapa, Chhangte, Valskis.

Broadcast

The game will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Sunday. It will be broadcast live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD. It will also be available to stream on Hotstar and Jio TV.