Kerala Blasters FC will serve as hosts to Mumbai City FC in their first match on home soil at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday. The men in yellow will be aiming to continue their momentum and claim three points, after emerging triumphant against two-time champions ATK in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19’s curtain-raiser. Prior to the clash, the host’s head coach David James was present at the pre-match press conference to share his insights on the team’s preparations.

The Englishman started off by sharing his opinion on how a sense of belief was more important than mere magic within a squad. “It’s not about magic, but it’s about giving players belief. That belief is required. If you give players belief, then they can fulfil their potential and that helps the managers. So, there’s no magic involved.”

James spoke with a lot of respect for their opponents, stressing that the Islanders were quite a force, despite the first match loss. “I think, the recent record with them is four draws and two wins against them. They’ve got some quality players and some great players they’ve brought in. I know they lost the first game, but if their players gel well, they’re going to cause us problems. If we think because Mumbai lost, we could win easily, then we are very much mistaken. We will be going all-out to win, but we have to respect them.”

The Blasters’ coach was also not shy of heaping praises on Kerala’s young prodigy Sahal Samad, who started in their first match. “Samad started the game against ATK well, in the same style we practised in pre-season and he was spot-on. This is a player who featured more this season than last season, as it was his first start. Samad has got wonderful ability and there’s a lot more to come from him. We’re talking about a young player, so he has got time on him. If the rest of the squad can follow what Samad has done in the last 5-6 weeks, then we could reach a very good position.”

The 48-year-old concluded by speaking on the upcoming international breaks. "There’s a break after the Mumbai game and one during December-January. I think, we have to congratulate Indian Football, that they are giving time for the international team to progress. Stephen Constantine is trying to get time for his players to get together. If more number of Indian international players come for the Kerala Blasters, the more we get better. I’m happy for the break. So, the international break is a good thing.”

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