Manuel Cascallana: Absence of Habas isn't going to be a huge problem

The ATK assistant coach also spoke regarding the merger his team with I-League giants Mohun Bagan.

ATK will look to get back to winning ways at the Salt Lake Stadium when they face league-leaders FC Goa in a crunch tie on Saturday. The Kolkata-based side are three points behind FC Goa in the table and a win is quintessential for them to stay in the race for clinching the top spot come the end of the league stages. Ahead of the game on Saturday, ATK assistant coach Manuel Cascallana interacted in the pre-match press conference.

Manuel Cascallana was insistent that Habas’ exclusion isn’t going to effect his side’s performance level. “It (Habas’ exclusion) isn’t going to be a huge problem for us. We are a team, we are a collective side. Tomorrow without Antonio we are going to play like the same that we usually do,” he began.

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The Spaniard expressed his side’s delight at playing at Kolkata and how much motivation playing in front of the supporters gives them. “Tomorrow we play in Kolkata. Kolkata is special for us as we play for the supporters. They motivate us. We have enough motivation to be in the top of the league and defeat them tomorrow,” Manuel Cascallana said.

After ATK announced the merger with Mohun Bagan yesterday, Manuel Cascallana believes that it’s a good move for everyone involved. “This is a very good move for India and for Kolkata. Two big teams are fusing together and going to play tomorrow. We have the utmost respect for Mohun Bagan and their gigantic supporter base. We respect our fans who have been following us from the first season. I think it’ s very good news for ATK,” he quipped.

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Watch: Details Regarding ATK-Mohun Bagan Merger

Defender Agus Garcia also agreed with his coach’s comments, stating, “I think it’s a very good news for the club, for Mohun Bagan, for the city and for the ISL. We’re excited for this new era.”

Agus accepted FC Goa to be a strong side, but believes if ATK are good enough, they can keep them at bay. He said, “We know that Goa is one of the best teams in the ISL. For me, we’re focused on us. If we’re a good side, we can win against Goa for sure and keep down Corominas and the others.”

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“We lost the game against Goa earlier this season. We played among our worst matches on that day. We fixed the problems since then and are working very hard to beat them tomorrow. We are going 100% and that won’t be kept down regardless of whoever we’re facing,” he added.

With ATK having three matches at home in their last five after tomorrow’s game, Manuel Cascallana explained how important it is for them to win against FC Goa. “It’s important to win tomorrow. It’s not only three more points. It’s a very difficult game. Goa has been in the first position in the whole season. If we win tomorrow we’ll have more points and be a stage bigger than them. We feel really comfortable here in Kolkata and it’s quintessential for us to perform well here over the next month,” the tactician said.

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Team News

David Williams and Pronay Halder are still recovering from their injuries and will be out for the game tomorrow. Carl McHugh is still out with a long-term injury.

Head To Head

ATK have faced FC Goa on 13 occasions so far in the ISL. They’ve ended up on the winning side on three occasions, with the Gaurs winning three games while seven games were drawn.

Predicted Lineup

Arindam (GK), Prabir, Kotal, Agus, Rathi, Soosairaj, Sosa, Hernandez, Garcia, Jobby, Krishna

Broadcast

The game will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday. It will be broadcast in Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD and be available for streaming on Hotstar and JioTV.