While Hero Indian Super League (ISL) debutants Jamshedpur FC prepare for a tough second away fixture against Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, one of their key players is none other than former Blasters man Mehtab Hossain. The seasoned midfielder played the first three Hero ISL seasons for the Kochi-based outfit and will be looking to inspire his new club to their first ever ISL victory against his former side on Friday. He spoke to indiansuperleague.com on the eve of the match and shared his thoughts on his new side and Kerala. Excerpts from the interview.

What’s it like to play this season with new-comers Jamshedpur FC?

We are all very excited! Because everyone is new, it’s difficult to combine together. Jamshedpur is a city with a history. There’s also an academy which has been running for many years, but now that there is a team in the ISL, their supporters and staff are all very excited to see how Jamshedpur FC play. Even we, as players and staff, are eager to get some good results. Our next match is against Kerala Blasters. We couldn’t live up to the expectations in our first match, but at least getting one point in an away match was good for us.

New season, new challenges, and you are facing your former club, Kerala Blasters on their home ground. How do you feel about it?

Firstly, I’d like to say that it feels like coming back home. The last three years, I played for Kerala Blasters. The supporters, staff and everyone here love football. They have passion for football, so I feel happy to be back here. At the end of the day, the better team should win. But I feel really good to play here because the supporters and atmosphere at this ground is always great, and they support quality football.

As a holding midfielder, who are you most worried about from Kerala’s attack?

There are many players like (Iain) Hume, (Dimitar) Berbatov and (CK) Vineeth. They have good attacking strength. Their first match didn’t go so well, but they are a new team too, so the fans should keep their hopes up.