Kerala Blasters FC will host Chennaiyin FC in yet another intense South Indian derby at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday. The match may have no consequences in the ongoing top four race, but Nelo Vingada's men will be eager to finally end their 14-match winless run in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 with a victory over their arch rivals.

Before the crunch encounter, indiansuperleague.com caught up with Kerala midfielder Courage Pekuson for a chat. Here are the excerpts.

Tell us about your superb goal in the last match against Bengaluru.

Actually, when Len (Seiminlen Doungel) found himself one-against-one with their left-back. He didn’t have the option to shoot and so, we had to support as midfielders. When he passed the ball to me, I saw their goalkeeper moving out from the first post, leaving a big space there. So, I had to just slot the ball in there.

What is the mood in the camp currently?

We feel confident. In the last match, we were good in the first-half but the second-half wasn't very good for us. But then, we learned a lot and we think that the confidence we got from that match will help us in our next match.

Thoughts on the new coach and his tactics.

Tactically, he’s trying to put everybody in right positions and then focussing on the movements; when to move, when to go. Everything is working well for us. I think this is also helping us to play very well.

Thoughts on playing against former teammates CK Vineeth and Halicharan Narzary.

It feels good to play with them as opponents and to challenge ourselves. It will be a good match for sure but it feels good to have them back here.

Thoughts on the match against Chennaiyin FC.

It’s not going to be easy. They have a good team and good quality as well. It won’t be as easy as people think or maybe some fans will think. It’s going to be a tough match because everybody wants to get these points to make their fans very happy.

Read the match preview here.