Hyderabad FC play their first ever match of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 against ATK at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Friday.

Ahead of the landmark fixture, indiansuperleague.com caught up with Hyderabad captain and goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh for an exclusive interview. Here are the excerpts.

First Hero ISL club from Hyderabad, how did the city respond to it?

I think Hyderabad has a great history with football, so the city’s response has been great. Lots of people are getting attached to the club and a lot of fans are messaging our players. I hope lots of people come to watch our first game in Kolkata and our first home game in Hyderabad which is on 2nd November. So, we are excited to meet the fans, and excited to play for them.

On the team.

I think our team is very well-balanced. We have most of the players who were retained from the previous club. The coach has brought in some new players from England and other countries also. There are a lot of youngsters who have joined us, so I think we are a very well-balanced team and we are looking forward to having a good season.

Any pressure on Hyderabad FC?

No, right now, we are not feeling any pressure. We have been pretty good in the pre-season, haven’t lost any matches. We are confident of doing well in the upcoming matches. So, there’s no pressure. ATK lost their first match, and now they’re playing their first match at home. There might be little pressure on them, but we’re not concerned about that. We are focusing on ourselves and we will try to give our best in our first match.

On being the youngest captain of a team in the Hero ISL 2019-20 season?

There is no-one special in the team. The head coach (Phil Brown) is treating us all in the same way. So, there isn’t only one man in the team who’s a captain, even though he has named me as a captain. But there is lot of big names in the team like Marcelo (Pereira), Marko (Stankovic), Rafa (Rafael Lopez). I feel like we all are captains and the coach, treats us that way too.

On playing under an experienced head coach like Phil Brown.

He is boosting our confidence every day. We learn new things from him every day. So, definitely, that will help us in matches as well.

Read the Match Preview here.