After their 4-2 success over Mumbai City FC in their last away match, Odisha FC will be full be confidence when they hit the road again, this time to go up against Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday.

Ahead of the Kerala clash, indiansuperleague.com caught up for an exclusive interview with Jerry Mawihmingthanga, who has been one of the standout players in Gombau’s squad for far. Here are the excerpts from the same:

Three games, 270 minutes, one goal and three assists. How are you feeling right now?

It's great to have scored, to have created chances for my teammates, but it's not about scoring or creating chances. For me, the most important thing is to win the match. It's not about personal performance, it's about winning with the team, because we are a team. It’s not an individual game, it’s a team game, it's important for me to get 3 points. But it feels great to be on the scoresheet and create chances.

Thoughts on the match. 

For me it's not about the opponent. It's not about how they play. It's about us. The most important thing is how we will react as a team. The last few matches don’t matter. What happened has already happened. The most important this is NOW. Winning the last match was good for us, it gives us a lot of confidence and boosts us, so we are looking forward to the next match.

How is your experience of playing under Josep Gombau?

I have had a great experience here. I love being here, because I have learned a lot of things here, I have developed a lot and to be honest I have built a lot of confidence for myself. A lot of young players have built up confidence for themselves. It's amazing to play here. I love to be here.

You have missed a lot of game time last season. How important is it for you to stay fit and get more game time this season?

It happens, sometimes you play and sometimes you don’t, you keep learning and it is upto us to stay fit and focused. When things don’t work in our way, instead of being sad and blaming others, we should work for it. For me the most important thing is, I always say to myself, everyone has their time. When God says it’s your time, no one can stop you. I believe in God's timing for me. I have always been working, I trust God, and I trust God's timing.

On playing in front of Kerala fans.

Kerala have good fans, it's amazing to play here with all the fans cheering. We will try our best. You can’t say anything about the result, but I know we always give 100% in the match. We always work hard, and we work together, and we will give our best.

Any personal target you’ve set for this season?

I always wanted to push myself, to be better than who I am, to develop every day on and off the pitch. I want to develop and learn more and grow on and off the pitch. I want to become a better man and a better human being. As a footballer, I always work to develop on and off the pitch. I don’t set personal targets, but I know I am going to work hard, and achieve good things in the future.

Read the Match Preview here.