Chennaiyin FC will be on the road to take on arch rivals Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday. Both sides will be looking to salvage some pride from what has been a disappointing season for both teams so far.

Ahead of the encounter, indiansuperleague.com caught up with Chennaiyin defender Laldinliana Renthlei for an interview. Here's what he had to say.

Thoughts on your maiden Hero ISL season.

This is my first season in the Hero ISL and it is a pleasure for me to be a part of this team. I'm very happy. This season, Jeje (Lalpekhlua) and others helped me a lot in practice and other things. This is my first time away from home so I've had to learn a lot of things from scratch like speaking in Hindi. I'm learning bit by bit about the club. So, it is good.

Which Kerala Blasters FC players are you keeping an eye on?

As a right-back, I would have to pick up a winger like (Baoringdao) Bodo and a full-back like Lalruatthara.

Thoughts on your performance against Bengaluru FC.

The last match was very important for me and I was very happy to get the DHL Winning Pass of the Match award as well as the ISL Emerging Player of the Match award. That match was very tough because it was a new strategy for our side and I needed to give my 100% effort on the match.

Thoughts on the match against Kerala Blasters FC.

It is going to be an important match as it is a derby for us and we will try to get three points.

Check out the match preview here.