Just a matter of time before goals come, assures Bozidar Bandovic

The coach praised his side's balance and motivated them to come good in attack.

Chennaiyin FC will face Odisha FC in a tight mid-table clash on Saturday night. Both teams will be itching for a win after enduring painful defeats in their previous games. A win for either side will also put them firmly in the playoff spots.

Despite their unbeaten start now ended, Chennaiyin will feel better considering their performance in the previous game against Mumbai City. Up until Vishal Kaith's mistake, the Marina Machans were solid in defence and were threatening on the counter-attack. They also dominated the midfield for considerable periods of time. Therefore, the result notwithstanding, head coach Bozidar Bandovic would have surely taken a lot of positives from the side's fight.

The Montenegrin took questions from the media ahead of his side's sixth game against the Juggernauts:

Addressing lack of end product

Chennaiyin FC possess enviable quality in attack and have shown glimpses of their potential, especially on the counter-attack. But, for all their efforts, the Marina Machans have scored the least number of goals in the ISL this season (4). It continues their worrying trend from last season, where they were once again the team with the least number of goals.

The lack of goalscoring output was also acknowledged by Bozidar Bandovic. The Montenegrin confidently replied, "We have created a lot of chances, but we haven't scored the goals. This is very clear. But, I think it is just a matter of time. I think it could be pressure and at times it could be the (lack of) confidence. I feel that as long as we are creating chances, I believe the goals will come. We need balance and I believe with that we will be more effective."

The tactician though took the chance to praise his side's level of organization and compactness in defence. He answered, "I think we have been very organized and disciplined in defence. Even if you are pressing high or defending in a low block, if you are playing at this level, you have to be disciplined, you need to have good organization. I am very happy with my defence, but I know we can do more."

Keeping band together

A characteristic of Bozidar Bandovic so far has been his proclivity to play with an unchanged lineup. The Montenegrin has also not tampered a lot with his team's composition. He has usually made only three substitutions every game and has pretty much stuck with usual suspects there too.

When asked if cohesion and coordination in play was the key, Bandovic agreed and stated, "If you see the first three games, I played with the same team. I want them to play together, learn together and this is the main thing behind it. It is a very short competition and we don't have a lot of time to work.

"It's a game every 3-4 days. So, if you want to play, you need to have a good physical condition. I think the physical condition of my team is not at the level that I want, but I think from the first day till now, it is at a good level."

Approach to tomorrow's game

Bozidar Bandovic would've needed time to boost his team's morale after their defeat against Mumbai. The Marina Machans would have definitely been hurt after the loss, considering they were good enough to nick a point off the league leaders.

The coach threw his weight behind his players. He reflected, "It did hurt to lose like that. We lost the last game due to not doing some small things. But, my belief in this team and the players has now doubled. We need to keep going to reach our targets. It is a new game, another three points, so we need to go for it. We will do well with the win and we will get our confidence back."

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Addressing the challenge posed by Odisha FC, Bandovic asserted, "For me, every game is difficult. We have to approach the game with full concentration. They are a good team and have some very dangerous players. They are dangerous from set-pieces, so we need to resolve it in defence. Some individual players of theirs can cause problems. So, we need to be ready."

Bandovic stated his desire to continue with the 3-5-2 formation that he has employed in the last two games. Speaking on his tactical thoughts he mentioned, "I knew that at that moment, we can change the system, not because they (ATKMB and MCFC) were big teams.

"I wanted to play two forwards. For me, it is not about the system, that is just the starting position. It is about the movement of the players. We also do well centrally, even in defence. So, I think we did very well with the two teams. We do need to be better in attack, but I think my players played well."

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