ATK will face off against eastern rivals NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. A win in the match will help the Kolkata-based side break into the top four in the league table.

Ahead of the big match, indiansuperleague.com caught up with ATK goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja for a chat. Here are the excerpts.

Tell us about your footballing journey.

Since my school days, I used to play football. I used to play even for my village team. My love for the sport grew when I started watching the World Cup. I don’t remember the exact year, but I saw Oliver Kahn saving all the goals and that’s when I started liking football more and I thought that I’ll play football.

How has your experience been at ATK so far?

Very good. We’re doing very well, I'm very happy here, happy to be back home in Kolkata after many long years.

What is your mindset when playing quality opposition?

It always keeps you on your toes when you play against good teams, good strikers and quality opponents. That’s what happens in the Hero ISL so you have to really work hard because you don’t get a second chance.

Is there any added pressure playing a derby?

No pressure, honestly, but still, NorthEast United FC are doing really good and they’re in good shape, good form. But we’ve done our homework. I’m sure it’ll be a very exciting match.

Thoughts on being a win away from the top four.

Yes, everyone is aware of that. That’s the plan. Let’s see how it goes. Hope we can do it.

Thoughts on NorthEast United FC.

As I said before, they are doing very well, they are in good form, good shape but lately, we have also been doing very well too. We’ve worked on NorthEast United FC, we’ve done our homework. I’m sure they’ve also worked on us. So, let’s see. It will be a very exciting match I think.