Kino Sanchez motivated to play ATKMB, Juan Ferrando eyes ACL spot

The Mariners are currenlty ranked third in the points table.

With their hopes of making the playoffs now over, Odisha FC coach Kino Sanchez wants to finish the season on a high and perhaps with consecutive wins. They play ATK Mohun Bagan next and Sanchez feels although they can no longer make the semi-finals, playing one of ISL's biggest teams is a motivation in itself. Juan Ferrando's ATKMB are not short of motivation either. They are at third and need two wins from their remaining four games to seal playoffs.

The Mariners are also in contention for the top spot, which guarantees a place in the AFC Champions League - Asia's premier competition. Hyderabad FC currently sit on top with 32 points from 17 matches, while ATK Mohun Bagan are two behind having played a game less. Odisha FC held the Mariners to a goalless draw when both these teams last met and will want at least a point from the reverse fixture if not a win.

Ahead of the game, coaches Juan Ferrando and kino Sanchez shared their thoughts.

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Odisha FC coach Kino Sanchez

With playoffs hopes over, how do you motivate the players?

Kino Sanchez: I think playing against one of the best teams in ISL has to be a big motivation for the players. We drew the first leg, so we have high motivation to try and take three points. The boys are professional players, they are motivated to beat our rival.

Odisha FC have conceded the highest goals from set-pieces, how do you rectify this?

Kino Sanchez: You have to see the whole season. It’s true at the beginning of the season we conceded a lot. After that for seven to eight matches, I think, we conceded only three goals from set-pieces. Of course, we want to improve but it’s not a big number. Also one of the goals is a penalty kick and one is a free-kick. So my main concern is corner kicks and indirect free-kicks. We are working. The other day we watched the goal, we know what happened, and we corrected it.

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Will the younger players get some gametime now?

Kino Sanchez: Yes of course, we want all the players to have some minutes. But we want to win the games. The players who will play these matches are because they deserve it. They worked hard during the season. So the players who deserve it will play.

ATK Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando

Sealing a place in playoffs

Juan Ferrando: I’m not thinking about all this. I’m thinking of getting three points and recovering well for the Bengaluru game. For me, there are games on Thursday and Sunday. I’m not thinking about the top four right now because I’m thinking about the first position. This is our mentality. But, we’ll see what happens, we have two games very close. I think the next two weeks will be very interesting for the supporters and also for the people who love football. This season, in my opinion, is very interesting because everybody has a chance to be in the top four.

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Availability of foreigners

Juan Ferrando: Of course, they’re not 100% ready because of the recovery process after injuries. But, step-by-step they’re improving a lot, they can help the team. Some are not 100% ready, but I’m happy that they are good in the best phase of the season. They’re good, not 100% ready but they’re good now.

Missing Chances

Juan Ferrando: To be honest, if you watched the last game against Kerala, we had clear chances and our goals were because the actions in the build-up were better. We were better in positions of attack, in line of defence. The goals conceded were not because our defensive line was poor, but because the kicks of Luna are incredible.

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Roy Krishna to start?

Juan Ferrando: We’ll see. His injury was very difficult. Now he’ll play 20 minutes, then 45 minutes, then 50 minutes and then 90 minutes. For me, the most important for Roy, (David) Williams, Carl (McHugh) is that everyone needs to keep calm. Their performances will be better with more games.

Containing Odisha FC

Juan Ferrando: In all the times I explain the same is that for me the most important is to control the entire team. If you put too much focus into one player, you’ll lose control. For me, the team is good, they have very good foreign players and also local players like Jerry (Mawhiminthanga), but it’s important to focus on the entire team.

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