Mumbai City FC host Bengaluru FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. The Islanders have proved to be a defensively robust side this season, with the 23-year-old wing-back Abinash Ruidas in scintillating form for them. The Kolkata-born player conversed with indiansuperleague.com prior to the match and shared his views regarding the league and more. Here are the excerpts.

How has playing each match this season improved your form?

The more time a player gets to play on the pitch, the more will be his improvement. It’s also good for the confidence of the player. So, considering that fact, I have started every match and the seniors, coaching staff, physios have all supported me. So, all this has increased my confidence level. I will, of course, try to play more matches and stay longer on the pitch.

Mumbai lost the match against Kerala Blasters FC on Sunday, and now will be playing after four days. How difficult is it to go back to the same pitch with another mindset?

Actually, professional players do not think of this. After the match against Bengaluru, our next match is 10 days later. So, sometimes you get a short break and sometimes you get a long one. We have to focus match by match. The problem is that we just lost our previous match and had we won, we could have climbed up the points table. It was a home match as well. But our next match is at home, too. We will be getting support. So, we will try and win that and forget about the match against Kerala.

Any player from Bengaluru you see as being a threat to your team?

Bengaluru FC is a compact team. All their players are very good. If you ask me, Miku is a dangerous player. And then, there is Sunil Chhetri as well.

Mumbai have the highest number of tackles this season. How much of a difference does this make and what are you doing differently from the other teams?

When we play defence, we have the mentality of saving goals for our teams. So, while Balwant Singh and the others are scoring goals, it is our job to save as many. So, we do not count how many tackles each of us makes. We make tackles to save our team. In that respect, Bengaluru’s attack is very good, while our defence is very strong. So, I think this match will be a good one.

Is there any player in the league you idolize?

Since childhood, I loved to see Sunil Chhetri, his game style and everything. There are a few other players this season who I like, but personally, Sunil Chhetri is the best for me.