Despite ATK’s underwhelming start to the 2017-18 Hero Indian Super League (ISL) campaign, defender Keegan Pereira is still hopeful of a strong comeback from the defending champions as the season develops. The former Mumbai City FC full-back has been in fine form so far, helping his side to two clean sheets in three games. Ahead of ATK’s match against Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, Pereira spoke exclusively to indiansuperleague.com and shared his thoughts. Here are the excerpts from the interview.

Have the injury setbacks hampered your team’s chances?

Yes, it’s done quite a bit, but we are not out of the league yet. We are still going to keep on fighting in this league. We have Robbie Keane coming in and we have some other boys coming in, so players are coming back on the field. We still have a chance and we are still going to fight till the end.

How do you approach the fixture against Chennaiyin FC?

We always want to win. There is nothing like a draw or a loss for us. But I don’t think it will be a disastrous result if we lose because it is only the fourth game and the league is not yet over. We will try to get the best result from the game.

Which player from your team has terrorised you the most in the training sessions?

The one and only Robbie Keane. Whenever he gets the ball at his feet, he terrorises you. He’s really good with the ball.

How has ISL changed Indian football?

ISL has done a really good job. It’s given a lot of the youngsters a great platform to perform and exchange names with the likes of Diego Forlan and Robbie Keane. It is really helping us to improve our game also and helping Indian football to go to another level.

Any message for the fans?

Please support us, no matter how we do. We will come back stronger, if all of you are by our side, we will do better.