Sunil Chhetri is the best player in India, states Antonio Habas

The Spaniard is wary of the threat the Indian national team skipper will pose when they meet the Blues on Tuesday.

ATK Mohun Bagan are looking to continue their impressive run of form in the Indian Super League, when they face a struggling Bengaluru FC side on Tuesday. Coming off two big wins over the last week, Antonio Habas and Co. are seemingly hitting their peak as the business end of the campaign moves forward.

Facing Bengaluru

It will be a challenging task for ATKMB to get back in action after just two days' rest. When asked about getting ready with such a short recovery period, Antonio Habas said, “This is the competition. The most important for us is to not give excuses. The competition is like this and it is waiting. We have to compete with our 100% in the next match.”

Despite picking up a big 4-1 win over Odisha FC, the Spaniard isn’t taking Bengaluru’s threat lightly. “We take the competition day-by-day, with one game at a time. Now, the Bengaluru FC match is another story and another match where we need to compete with the same intensity. But, the matches are never the same.”

Defensive Issues

ATKMB have conceded three goals in their last two games, but Antonio Habas isn’t too worried about that. He said, “I think there’s a good balance in the team. We only conceded three and out of that two goals came from set-pieces. One came from a corner, one I felt was a foul and another was from long distance.

"I think we need to continue with our good progression in defence and continue improving in attack. That is very important for us thinking about the last matches.”

Thoughts on players

Habas was impressed by Lenny Rodrigues’ debut against Odisha FC and praised his efforts, saying, “I felt he performed really well. I had Lenny at FC Pune City and I remember him. He is a good professional, good player who has his bearings. He’s a fantastic player until this moment.”

Despite Manvir Singh’s recent heroics, the coach doesn’t want to compare him with David Williams. He said, “So, now, I have no more injured foreign players and only Edu Garcia is the player who is working on getting back to fitness. I am very happy because in these circumstances, we are doing better than we were at the beginning of the season.

Now, we are in a good moment with respect to the injured players. David is an important player for us. He is in a good moment now after recovering from two injures,” he added.

Sunil Chhetri's threat

The tactician is wary of the threat Sunil Chhetri brings and lauded him with praise before the game, saying, “I think that Sunil is the best player in India, it’s clear. We’re aware of his trajectory and his whole performance is amazing. He is the balance in his team right now.

"Bengaluru might be going through a difficult period, but I saw everyday Chhetri has been positive and ready for war. He’s a good professional and for me the best in India. But we have to play against Bengaluru and not only against Chhetri.”

Objectives for season

Further, Antonio Habas also outlined his targets for the coming weeks, saying, “Now, the target is to be in the playoffs, mathematically. After that, we’ll think about getting the first position in the regular league. After that, it’s winning the semi-finals and after that winning the final, if possible. Our idea has always been by taking it one game at a time, rather than thinking about what will happen many matches later.”

He also believes the fight to decide which team finishes the league stages at the top could be decided by ATKMB’s final game against Mumbai City. When asked about that, he said, ”Yes, this is our idea. It also depends on if Mumbai lose some matches. We have to go match-to-match and day-by-day. I don’t want to think about long-term possibilities."

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