Antonio Habas: Anas Edathodika's injury is a disaster for us

The Spaniard expressed his contentment with the team's performance this season despite losing out on the top spot.

ATK will attempt to end their league campaign in the Indian Super League (ISL) on a high note when they travel to face Bengaluru FC on Saturday. Antonio Habas and Co. have never done a league double over the defending champions and will look to consolidate their second place with a big win before the playoffs. Head coach Antonio Habas wasn’t ruing not getting into the AFC Champions League next season. He indicated that it might’ve been asking too much from ATK to finish in first place with a completely new side and how minute details decided their fate. “I am very happy with my team for getting into the playoffs. Expecting everything at once is impossible, when the team has finished sixth last season and ninth the one before that.” [KH_ADWORDS type="3" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] “Now, we finish second. We won nearly every game, but Goa had an advantage as they retained their same core from last season. In the last match (against Chennaiyin), we failed to win, while Goa didn’t, after losing to us. In the end, that decided the league winners," he added. The Spaniard refused to place extra importance on analyzing the next game, as Bengaluru FC could be ATK’s opponents for the playoffs. “For me, the important thing is playing the next match against Bengaluru. After that, we don’t know who will be our opponents. I don’t like fantasies, I like to live in reality. Now, I only know one thing, that my next opponents are Bengaluru and we aren’t looking beyond that.” Antonio Habas also rued the injury to Anas Edathodika, who could be out for the next 6-7 months and explained how bad it’ll be for the side. He said, “It’s a disaster for us. Anas is a very important player for us. I’m very disheartened for the team and disheartened for Anas, as he suffered a serious injury. Football has good and bad moments. This is a bad moment for Anas and us.” He also spoke about his approach for the game and how they must be at their very best to win on Saturday. Antonio Habas stated, “The approach will be the same as every match. We will look to win. That’s our motto from the first day and now we must focus on that motto.” “Bengaluru are a big club and are the defending champions. It’ll be a very difficult match for us. We respect the opponent and we have to put in a peak performance to win,” he added. [KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] Michael Regin accompanying the head coach revealed his experience of playing in the ISL as well as playing alongside his brother Michael Soosairaj for the Kolkata giants. He explained, “In the beginning, I missed many practice sessions. But, after that when I came to the side I was a little bit nervous after missing so much. The coach gave me a lot of confidence, so now I’ll be comfortable with the team.” “It’s my father’s dream to see us play together. It’s happening right now, so I’m very happy. After whatever happens in the practice grounds we tend to share in the room together and discuss things together. I’m very happy for us playing together," he further quipped.

Team News

Anas Edathodika and Carl McHugh are the absentees, with the former injured indefinitely and the latter still recovering from his knock.

Head-To-Head

ATK have a poor record against the defending champions, having only defeated Bengaluru once in their five meetings in the competition. [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News | Article Continues Below"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Probable XI

Arindam, Prabir, Kotal, Johnson, Rathi, Soosairaj, Regin, Sosa, Edu, Krishna, Williams.

Broadcast

The game will be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday. It will be broadcast on Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD. It will also be available to stream on Hotstar and Jio TV.