Jamshedpur FC travel down south to take on Bengaluru FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday. Jamshedpur have kept four clean sheets so far and have conceded just once in five matches, but Bengaluru’s potent attack will certainly test their defensive resolve. The visitors’ robust defender Andre Bikey spoke with indiansuperleague.com and shared his thoughts on the upcoming fixture as well as life in India and more. Here are the excerpts from the interview.

You’ve played football across the globe – where did your journey begin?

In my country. Everyone realized that I was a good player. I was really lucky because after U-17, I joined Espanyol. I signed a professional contract. After 2-3 years in Spain, I went to Portugal. I played there one year and then I went to Russia, there I joined Locomotiv Moscow and then I went to England. I played one year in Greece as well. I went back to England and then I’m here. I just keep enjoying it. Let’s see what will happen in the future.

How has it been living in India?

The first thing is we’re here to promote football in India. I had heard about India before, but never been here. I enjoy it. I’m happy because the league is growing every year. My experience here is really positive.

The Jamshedpur defence has been a tough nut to crack – how easy or difficult has it been for you to settle in?

Nothing is easy. The manager says you build your team from behind. If you’re strong in defence you can hurt anyone. The most important thing is to defend well. Attacking is easy because everyone likes to attack. Right now we’re really pleased that we’re strong at the back. We’ll try to score more goals and get three points from every game.

What kind of threat do you think Bengaluru will pose?

We saw them play. They’re a good team. To be fair, they are one of the best attacking teams in the ISL. We have a lot of respect for them but respect doesn’t mean fear. Anyway, it’ll be a tough game. We will stick to our game-plan and try to hurt them as well. We come here, we know what we’re expected to do, we will try our best to get the three points.

What do you like to do when you’re off football, off the pitch?

To be fair, be with the guys. Just be there chilling with the players. We’re like a family already. Everything is nice, we’re happy. I’m sure we’ll plan something for Christmas soon.