ATK gear up for their second encounter of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 by welcoming home neighbours NorthEast United FC on Thursday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. After losing the season opener to Kerala Blasters, victory will be the only thing on the minds of the two-time champions as they take to the pitch. A day prior to the match, the host’s head coach Steve Coppell was present at the pre-match press conference to give his insights on the team’s preparations.

The Englishman started off by speaking on the approach he takes going into a league campaign, emphasising his tendency to take each game as it comes. “I have always had exactly the same philosophy during my managerial career, that is winning the next game. And secondly, I always try and concentrate and focus and try to win the next game. We cannot be thinking of the next two months or three months, it’s crazy. We have a game tomorrow and that’s all we’ll be thinking of.”

When asked about the areas his side needed to address, he pointed out the importance of ball retention, which the team lacked against Kerala Blasters. “Ball retention, I think, is the biggest thing. We gave the ball away so easily the other night and particularly it’s so hot, when your opponent has the ball, it seems to be more of an effort. It’s something we have talked about and something we will be better at against NorthEast United. We just need to control the ball and that will give us more potential to get forward and attack.”

The 63-year-old also spoke of the weather conditions of the first game, which were similar to the conditions during the team’s pre-season trip to Spain. “It was 24 degrees in Spain, so the training camp in Spain duplicated the conditions that we have here. It’s just that I was very worried about the heat myself in the game against Kerala. Once they started making changes, I thought I got to make a couple of changes to get fresh legs on.”

Coppell concluded by talking about the quality of the Highlanders, in particular, Bartholomew Ogbeche, who could prove to be a menace for his side. “The centre-forward obviously scored the goal against Goa and he’s a very powerful player. He played in the Dutch Eredivisie last year and scored 10 goals, so obviously, he’s a player who’s playing top quality football recently. They are strong down the middle. They have got pace upside and in good areas.”

Click here to read the match preview.