Jamshedpur FC will play their final match in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 at home to table-toppers Bengaluru FC on Wednesday. The Miners saw their semi-final hopes end following the stalemate against Chennaiyin FC on Saturday.

Head coach, Cesar Ferrando attended his last pre-match press conference and the Spaniard began by stressing the importance of finishing the season on a high. “I want to win tomorrow. It’s important we finish the season well. I am happy with the performance of my team. I hope we can win tomorrow against Bengaluru FC. It’s the most important thing for my team, for my staff and me,” he said.

Jamshedpur have created enough chances to win matches throughout the campaign, but just haven’t been able to finish it. Sharing his views on whether the lack of a frontline striker affected his team’s chances, Ferrando said, “We had strikers. We had a plan. Tim Cahill and Sumeet Passi got injured. I don’t want to talk about excuses. I tried to do the best I can every match. I think against Chennai, the team played very well. We deserved a win. We controlled most of the match. I think the team deserves to stay in the top four.”

The Miners boss then looked back at the season gone by. “We surely made mistakes. I don’t want to talk about it here. When I look back, I think we need more quality at the top. We played like a team. All the teams that have qualified, they have top strikers. We drew a lot of matches. We cannot talk about next season,” he said.

The 59-year-old brought an end to his pre-match briefing by recognising the Spanish influence on Hero ISL football before laying down a path for Indian football to follow. “I think that Spanish football is important in this country. I think Bengaluru have a good coach. If Indian football wants to improve, they have work on grassroots. It doesn’t matter how many big coaches come here. Technical abilities need to be worked on when the players are young.”

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