Mandar Rao Dessai: Not taking anything for granted
FC Goa are all set to host FC Pune City in their second home match of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19.


FC Goa are all set to host FC Pune City in their second home match of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19. The Gaurs will go into the match full of confidence after their impressive display against Mumbai City FC in their last fixture.
Before the match, indiansuperleague.com caught up with FC Goa skipper Mandar Rao Dessai for an exclusive chat. Here are the excerpts.
Having started all 20 games in the league last year, what have you learnt?
I think it’s a very good thing for me to play all the 20 games last season without any injury and I’ve learnt a lot of things. We have learnt from the mistakes that we made. We have improved on it so we’ll bring that into this season.
What are your responsibilities as a captain on and off the pitch?
I think that my players, all the staff, and everyone else, make it easier for me because they’re always helping me on and off the pitch. I think all of us are working together, so that’s good for us.
After the dominating performance in the last match, how confident is the team going into the match against Pune?
Yes, it was really a good game and the fans and everyone enjoyed it. But I think this is not the end, it’s just the start because we have played just three games. I think there's a long way to go. Every game is a new game and I think we have to concentrate on the stronger points of the other team and just work on it.
How important is it not to get carried away?
Yeah, as I said before, I think every game is a new game. Maybe they (Pune) have lost two games but for them also, it’s a bad result. So, they will come with the intention to win the game. They’ve won before in our ground, so I think we are not taking anything for granted. I think we will work on the things that the coach has told us and we will try to play the same game that we want to play.