Chennaiyin FC will be keen to make amends in Hero Indian Super League 2017-18 after a lacklustre campaign last season that saw them finish second from bottom. They’ll be kickstarting their season against old foes, FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. The last time these two sides met, Goa came out on top in a 5-4 thriller.

While addressing the media at the pre-match press conference, Chennai head coach John Gregory provided an update on the fitness of his squad and players returning from international duty. “We’re in pretty good shape. I’ve got twenty-five players in the squad. Unfortunately for three weeks, we lost some of our international players. Four boys were away with the national team, away for three weeks and sometimes that is disruptive to some of our plans. Obviously, Jeje [Lalpekhlua] has been with the national team. Three other boys have also been away, so we’ve not always had a full squad to pick from. I have to say that Germanpreet [Singh] has got a bit of a knock. He came back from the national team and as a club’s coach, it's always your worst nightmare,” he said.

On his side’s approach to their season opener against Goa, Gregory added: “You always expect to win your home matches. You can look at any league in any country in the world and if you pick up points when you’re on the road and win home games as well, then you look forward to the title. But we’ll take a very pragmatic approach to this season. I think both coaches were happy not to have lost [in the season opener between ATK and Kerala Blasters FC] and get one point on board.”

When asked for his thoughts on the Gaurs, the Englishman said: “Obviously they have a nice set of players and a nice coach. He’s got his ideas on how he wants his team to play so we can expect them to play in a very Spanish style, keeping possession of the football and wanting to press as well. We’ve got a rough idea of what their starting lineup will be. We got about 13 or 14 players that we expect to start. [But] more than paying attention to the opposition, I’ve been paying attention to my own boys.”

Hero ISL’s leading domestic scorer, Jeje also accompanied his head coach to the conference. On his expectations from the upcoming season, the Mizo Sniper said: “For Chennaiyin FC, I want to score as much as I can. I want to help the squad lift the trophy and also our squad is stronger than the last two years. I think the best squad we have ever had is the one we have this season and we can win the trophy.”

He added: “I’ve been in form and had a good pre-season in Thailand and especially for me, I need to work really hard. This isn’t my first season in the Hero ISL, so I want to score many goals. Also, all players must work together and fight for each other.”