Kerala Blasters FC host Chennaiyin FC in what promises to be an entertaining South Indian derby at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday. Both teams come into this encounter on the back of impressive performances against Bengaluru and will be raring to get one over each other, given their historic rivalry.

Nelo Vingada, head coach of Kerala Blasters, spoke at length about the challenge that Chennaiyin poses. "Against Chennai, we have to start well. It will be hard because they beat Bengaluru in the last game. We have to play our best. We have to show them that it is not easy to play in Kochi," he said.

Asked about his preparations for the match, the veteran coach said, "It is another day. The next game is always the most important and also the most difficult. We need to make sure that our team's performance levels are going up. We have had more time in training and now, the players know my concept better."

Kerala will be without defender Nemanja Lakic-Pesic, who has reportedly been handed a suspension due to a tussle during the match against Bengaluru. "Today I learned that Lakic is suspended for two games, so we have to find a solution to replace him.  The information I got is that he and one player of Bengaluru had a confrontation and he pushed him using his shoulder. He told me he pushed him with the shoulder because other players were provoking him," Vingada informed.

However, the Blasters could be boosted by the return of Anas Edathodika, who has been out of action due to an injury he picked up during India’s AFC Asian Cup campaign. “Anas became injured vs Bahrain. He started working 10 days ago. He will completely recover, he played in training in the last week. He is a player with great experience, we will see," Vingada said.

When asked about the prospect of CK Vineeth and Halicharan Narzary, who moved to Chennaiyin from Kerala during the January transfer window, coming back to face their former side, Vingada stated, "Chennaiyin are not just about Vineeth and Narzary. We have to respect them, and we have to show it is our home match."

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