NorthEast United FC begin their Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 journey against league debutants, Jamshedpur FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. NEUFC will be looking to use their home support to its fullest potential when they meet a Jamshedpur-outfit with experienced Hero ISL stars.

Fielding the youngest side of the league filled with talented local players, NEUFC full-back Robert Lalthlamuana’s experience will be of utmost importance as the league progresses. He reflected the same in the pre-match press conference, “Our team has a young squad. Most of the players are young, especially the Indian players. We have some experienced foreign players as well. I tell my fellow Indian players that this is where we need to perform, this is the time to do well, to show what you can do, to pull up your socks and go for it.”

Lalthlamuana was also encouraged by the fact that a lot of players come from the north-east region and know each other's game well. “Yes, most of them are from the north-east states. It’s good to have players from a particular region. They’ve played together for a long time so that’s good. We had a really good pre-season. I’m thankful for the management. They sent us to Turkey for pre-season which helped us get along on and off the field,” he added.

Lalthlamuana and Sameehg Doutie were both a part of ATK’s title triumph last year. However, he feels the Highlanders need to be wary of Jamshedpur’s entire unit and not just Doutie. He said, “Most of us know Doutie since the second season, he’s a good winger. I’ve played with him, I’ve spent time with him, I know his style. But I don’t think it’s a one-man game, but how we defend and how we play as a team will matter.”

Head coach Joao Carlos Pires de Deus in his first stint in Hero ISL is determined to look ahead towards the future and not let the past weigh his team down. He shared, “I’m not going to speak about the past. I wasn’t here in the past, so I cannot say anything about it. Right now, we have a good set of coaches who have good knowledge in the area of training. They know when we have to be careful in some situations, to play in a particular manner and prepare our team in a particular manner and create performances which will help to reach from one point to another. And that’s what we are going to try and do this time. Sometimes when you work with human beings the practice is not so easy, but the practice we’ve had we know how to go from one step to another and that’s what we look to do.”

NorthEast will be missing their star midfielder Rowllin Borges due to injury when they kickstart their campaign against Jamshedpur in Guwahati on Saturday.