Mario Rivera keen on wins, Bozidar Bandovic aims for playoff berth

SC East Bengal take on Chennaiyin FC on Friday night.

Placed bottom of the table with just nine points from 14 outings, the Mario Rivera-coached SC East Bengal side have all but lost their chance to stake a claim for the semifinals but will look to improve their tally with their second win of the campaign against Chennaiyin. For Chennaiyin FC, placed seventh in the table with 18 points from 13 games, a win will catapult them back to the top-four.

The last time the two met this season, it ended in a 0-0 draw. Both sides showed tremendous defensive solidity in the showing.

Ahead of the meeting, coaches Mario Rivera and Bozidar Bandovic shared their thoughts on the game.

SC East Bengal coach Mario Rivera

Mentally preparing ahead of next clash

Mario Rivera: "They all are professional players. We need to be ready whether we have won or lost. You need to keep the good things and try to correct the bad things."

The target for the remaining matches

Mario Rivera: "To win every match. We are always thinking of the next match, and trying to win it."

On goalkeepers this season

Mario Rivera: "Sometimes when the team is at the bottom, it is easy to look at the goalkeeper. When the team wins or loses, it is everyone's doing."

Whether lack of confidence is a problem

Mario Rivera: "No, I think it has more to do with the performance of the team. Sometimes we can play well and lose the match, and sometimes we can play badly and win. The performance is important for confidence, and our performances have been better than the results."

On the duo of Antonio Perosevic and Marcelo

Mario Rivera "It's a nice combination. It's difficult as Marcelo cannot speak English, but they are trying to understand each other better. They are one of the best attacking formations in the league." 

Chennaiyin FC head coach Bozidar Bandovic

On losing Chhangte midway through the season

Bozidar Bandovic: "I think his contract should have been done a long time ago, not to wait. I talked to him many times, he's a good player. And I told him that he needs to stay in the club, this club needs to be built on him. So he told me that a club has offered him a contract, and his decision was to leave the club at the end of the year after his contract is finished, and to go to Mumbai. And after that, we talked many times and he called me and we had meetings and he told me that he wants to leave, which would be better for his future."

On their top-four chances

Bozidar Bandovic: "I always believed in the team and it is going to be tough, the next seven games, the next game is very important. We want to prepare, analyze the opponent. As I said before, for us to complete in the top four this season, it's going be a big success."

How they plan to bounce back from Bengaluru defeat

Bozidar Bandovic: "The players showed very good character and they we know that this game is very important for us, we must win that game I'd like to say it must, we must really need to be there we need to be inside the game, to win second balls and against Bengaluru FC, the game didn't start very well and because of some calls that happens many times now. And our team it's not like that, for me to say this often (to make a comeback),  we know that we need to come back in the next game."

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