ATK begin their title defence against Kerala Blasters FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18’s opening match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday. The defending champions have been in fine form in pre-season and will be looking to make a good start to their campaign at the expense of last season’s runners-up Kerala.

They will, however, have to do so without their star man Robbie Keane, who head coach Teddy Sheringham confirmed will miss the match due to injury. “He’s (Keane) got a slight Achilles problem, he won’t be involved for a couple of weeks. We’re hoping that he fares better after an injection that he’s just had and that he’ll be back very soon. He’ll be coming back to Kolkata probably next week,” Sheringham told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

He will have the services of target-man Robin Singh, who Sheringham admitted is different compared to the rest of the domestic players. “He’s (Robin Singh) very different to what we’ve got from other Indian players. He’s a big strong boy, and that’s very rare in India. He’s been around, knows the leagues very well and knows the opposition. Plus, we had a long flight yesterday coming down from Kolkata and I find myself sitting next to Robin. He told me for four hours about who he is, so I enjoyed my flight and had a fun time,” Sheringham said.

The Englishman though admitted that is wary of the threat that Kerala star Dimitar Berbatov possess to them. “I know a lot about Berbatov,” Sheringham said. “He’s a fantastic player. I hope tomorrow he doesn’t produce the skills that he is capable of. I’ve loved watching him over the years, but I don’t want to enjoy watching him tomorrow.”

When asked for his thoughts on his opposite number, Rene Meulensteen, Sheringham added: “I know Rene is a very experienced manager. He’s been coaching and managing for a really long time now, we’ve had six weeks to prepare. And especially for this game, we’ve had a long time to be preparing for it. I’m sure he feels the same. I’m not actually going to give away how we’re going to play in the game or how we try to play. That would be silly. It’s what we always got to keep up the sleeve to surprise the opponents but we’re coming here to win the game.”

The fact that Kerala Blasters have one of the most passionate fan bases in the country hasn’t been lost on Sheringham and the 51-year-old enthused at the prospect of playing in front of the yellow army. “It’s mouth-watering for a head coach and for my players to come to this fantastic stadium and know that it’s going to be a full house in the first game, it’s what you dream of as a boy. You want to play in front of a lot of fans. You want that excitement. You want that atmosphere. When you score or do something great, obviously they’ll be supporting us. But we’ll know that we’re doing amazing if can keep these amazing fans here quiet. That’s the aim of the game really,” he said.