Delhi Dynamos FC travel to the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday to meet the hosts Mumbai City FC. Captain and centre-back Lucian Goian has been a revelation for the Islanders in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 and has successfully completed 48 tackles in seven games, the highest by any player this season. Ahead of Friday’s clash against the Lions, Goian spoke to indiansuperleague.com highlighting the importance of a victory paired with certain candid revelations. Here are the excerpts.

Do you think your side will start as favourites against Mumbai?

I think we have to focus more on our side. If we are focussing on Delhi, we might relax looking at their position in the table. We don’t have to worry about that. We are not allowed to make any wrong steps in our home so tomorrow is a crucial game for us.

How crucial will the three points be going into the New Year?

It is very important to win in front of our fans and this is our advantage. Winning tomorrow will keep us in the first four and we hope we can get the three points.

What are you doing differently on a personal level from the other defenders in the league?

I don’t know, I think it is the way I am training. I always learned to train hard and give a 100% every time. It is not easy because tackling is a risky procedure. Now I have a lot of experience and this is helping me.

Your thoughts on the Achille Emana-Balwant Singh relationship?

They are very good players and I am very happy that Balwant is scoring because he is a very good striker. He’s my type. He works very hard in training and I like that. Emana is the perfect number 10 for us. He provides good passes for our forwards to score.

Sahil Tavora said he’ll gift you a microphone because you love to speak, how will you react to this?

I don’t think I need a microphone because I am always shouting in training and during games. But I will consider that.

Your personal resolution for the New Year?

Just to be healthy and to have my family healthy. I also want to help the team in the maximum possible way.

What will be the team’s New Year resolution?

The first step will be to reach the semi-finals. But we have to take it game by game. Before the season started, we wanted to finish in first place. I have had this mentality implemented in my career. So we want to finish in first place and win the championship.