Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 is not Mumbai City FC winger Bipin Singh’s first season in the country’s premier football division. However, it’s safe to say that Bipin has never had as much of an impact in his previous Hero USL campaigns as he has made with the Islanders in the ongoing season. The glimpses of his talents were always evident ever since he began his Hero ISL journey with ATK FC in the 2017-18 season and scored a magnificent freekick for them that season.

Bipin finished his debut Hero ISL campaign with two goals and an assist. The following campaign witnessed him move to Mumbai City but fail to make any goal contributions. He did get two goals and an assist for the Islanders last season, but the ongoing campaign has undoubtedly been a coming-of-age season for him.

He has scored twice and provided four assists for Mumbai City already in Hero ISL 2020-21 and has quickly become one of the first names on the Islanders’ team sheet for head coach Sergio Lobera, who is being rewarded by the 25-year-old for putting his faith in him.

“The last two seasons were a big learning curve for me. But this season I feel a lot more confident and all credit for that goes to our coach Sergio Lobera. Since day one, he has put his faith in my quality and my abilities. His biggest advice to me and to all my teammates is not to worry about losing the ball or about any mistakes and not to live in the past,” Bipin told indiansuperleague.com in an exclusive interview, ahead of Mumbai City’s game against Bengaluru FC.

“If you try to play with your mind still thinking about a mistake you made, you will certainly make another one. He tells us that it is important to back yourself and keep going on and that confidence has helped me become better and better. I want to thank him for the support he's given me and I am confident that under him, we can achieve a lot more than what we already have,” he added.

Confidence is something Lobera had himself expanded on, talking about Bipin earlier in the season. "The most important thing is confidence. Bipin is a very good player like our other players. We have a very good squad, very good Indian players, very good foreign players and the most important thing is to work well as a team and then it's possible for individuals to shine," Lobera said.

While he has not made his national team bow for the Blue Tigers yet, a debut with the senior national remains a possibility especially with head coach Igor Stimac recently admitting that there were places up for grabs. That said, Bipin’s focus at the moment remains firmly with Mumbai City although he does admit that representing his country would be a dream come true.

“There's no doubt that I would love to play for the national team and represent my country. Every footballer dreams of it. But right now, my only job is to keep my head down and focus on my game and on Mumbai City FC. We have an important part of the season to come and we want to achieve every accolade possible. Going or not going to the National Team will be a consequence of how well I can perform now and I just want to continue doing that. The rest lies in the hands of coach Stimac if he calls me up,” Bipin said.

The clash against the Blues on Monday will be particularly special for Bipin as he is set to make his 50th appearance in the Hero ISL and you can rest assured that the in-form Indian winger will be eager to cap off the occasion with a telling contribution like he’s done so often for Mumbai City this season.