Phil Brown: We haven't had the fair slice of luck in the league

The coach believes it's a matter of turning a corner before his side start producing good results.

An under pressure Hyderabad FC will face Mumbai City in the final ISL fixture of 2019 and will look to finish the year on a positive note. It hasn't all gone to plan for Phil Brown and his men this season, with injuries and defeats leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table.

They face Mumbai City, who are high on confidence following crucial wins against Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC.

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Coach's Corner

It has been a tough time for Phil Brown since he took over the job at erstwhile FC Pune City. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs and were made to change base and attain a new makeover in the form of the current Hyderabad FC. But, the new surroundings have barely bestowed any luck on them, as the Nizams are yet to get going.

One would empathize with Brown when he said, "We have been working fairly hard, if truth be told. There haven't been collective errors, but rather different individual errors every week and these players are playing under a lot of pressure. Nobody likes to be in the position that we're in. But, I'm learning more about the individuals. There were 11 out of the 25 players, who were new to the squad (from previously inherited Pune squad)."

Brown reminisced on their previous game against ATK and encouraged his boys to remain positive by saying, "We've met many times together and talked to the group about the collective mentality and we are confident of seeing the positive side of it. But, turning the corner is the most important part and there is no doubt that we will turn it around. We haven't had the fair slice of luck, hard work with luck will get us results and we are all in a positive state of mind."

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Brown expressed his admiration for his team's opponents Mumbai City. He said, "I watched their game against Jamshedpur and if you drill into the stats, they didn't have a lot of chances and they won. This shows they've got a lot of match-winners and they are organized."

"They have a good team and the investment from Manchester City will no doubt help them. It's a big challenge, but the bigger the challenge, the better we have to be. We have to be at our best, at our fittest and more creative. We are playing against a very professional club."

Hyderabad FC player Giles Barnes echoed the sentiments of his coach. He said, "I think the coaching staff is doing a great job by relieving us of the pressure of tactics and it is our job to grab that and play. The way we have been playing in the last few games, as the coach said, we are turning a corner and we've gone toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the league."

"We've been playing well. I know it's a results-based business, but if you take into account the way we've been performing, you can see the cohesion and the camaraderie in the players. We go into the game with a lot of confidence and we don't fear anybody," Phil Brown concluded.

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Team News

Marko Stankovic wasn't a part of the squad in the last game and is expected to remain out due to a hamstring injury he suffered early on against Goa. Bobo is expected to play as the striker, with three goals in his last two games.

Head-to-Head

This is the first game between the two teams after the formation of the new franchise of Hyderabad FC.

Predicted XI

Kamaljit; Rai, Kilgallon, Poojary, Yasir, Adil, Rohit, Barnes, Marcelinho, Bobo, Gordillo.

Broadcast

The game will commence from 7:30 PM IST on Sunday. It will be telecast live on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD. It will also be available to stream on Hotstar and Jio TV.