Owen Coyle lauds togetherness, Des Buckingham seeks consistency

Both the teams have won two games in last three.

Jamshedpur FC will be taking on defending champions Mumbai City FC, at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. A win will take Islanders back in the top four replacing Owen Coyle's side. Meanwhile, the Men of Steel are in contention for the prized top spot and will look to ensure the playoffs as soon as possible. They are currently in the fourth position, four points shy of table-toppers Hyderabad FC with two games in hand.

On the other hand, Islanders campaign went out of track after another brilliant start to the season. But Des Buckingham made some exemplary signings in January to continue building on his dynasty. They earned two wins in a row and are just below Jamshedpur FC with equal points.

Here are the excerpts from the pre-match press conference with Owen Coyle and Des Buckingham.

Jamshedpur FC coach Owen Coyle

Support around Daniel Chima

Owen Coyle: I think that’s a very important point. Daniel Chima has done wonderfully ever since he has come in and Greg Stewart has been outstanding all season. Both of them will have Jordan Murray as well with them, when he will be fit and available along with Ishan Pandita.

So, what is important is that we think we have talented individual players. But, our strength is as a group, with everybody being together and that is what we will look to do at Jamshedpur FC. We have to be at our very best for sure against a very good Mumbai City FC side.

Having 10 different goalscorers in the team

Owen Coyle: It is important to have goals from different areas of the team and not just one dimension, which we have in our team with Boris (Singh), Len Doungel, Komal Thatal scoring for the club. So, we are missing some important players from our squad, but the group is continuing to go on whether it is an injury or a suspension. Other lads step in their place, like young Ritwik (Das), who is yet to score and it is time for him to step up to score. We have wonderful talent, abilities and we give players the needed opportunity, which is important moving forward.

Injury update on Jordan Murray

Owen Coyle: Jordan Murray has started training back with the group and his training has improved each day. He trained very well today, so we will give him every chance of being in the lineup and maybe get him 10-15 minutes on the pitch, depending on how his training continues.

But, to have someone like him back in the squad will be very important. He is a wonderful player, great within the group and is a huge part of the spirit that we have with Jordan, Greg and lads like them. So, let’s hope that Jordan is able to get involved against Mumbai City FC.

Mumbai City FC coach Des Buckingham

Aspects to improve

Des Buckingham: We're four unbeaten and we're coming into this back half of the season in a position that we wanted; which was the top four or top five. I think we just want to keep being sharp in our play. We wade through quite a lot of footage and information of the various teams. It's important that we continue on the momentum that we've suddenly gotten over the past four games.

How team will approach match

Des Buckingham: So, the first and the main thing is to just concentrate on this next game. We want more from the players and our playing style. We just want to continue on whether it's Jamshedpur or games after. Building upon the momentum and building up the playing style that we've started to show. So, it will be a tough challenge.

I think defensively we've tightened up in the last couple of games and that's going to be important in this game. As that allows us the platform to wear the team down to get the goal that we need. So, the defensive side of our game is important, as it gives us the opportunity to build our playing style into the game.

Rahul Bheke as right-back

Des Buckingham: Amey (Ranawade) has played very well all season. But, with the suspension that he picked up, we had to rearrange the backline. So, Rahul's played at right-back previously in his career and it allowed an opportunity for Mehtab (Singh) to come into the side.

He's been very patient and they've performed very well together. So, we've kept that backline together in the last two games. Whether or not we change that lineup, Mehtab has shown that he's certainly capable of playing at this level, consistently. Rahul has certainly shown that he's capable of playing at right-back for as long as we want him to. "

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