ATK will look to keep their play-off hopes alive with a win over Mumbai City FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Friday. The match is a must-win for Steve Coppell's men as anything less than six points from their two remaining matches will see them crash out of the top four race.

Ahead of the crunch tie, indiansuperleague.com interviewed ATK's Pritam Kotal and Hitesh Sharma. Here are the excerpts.

Pritam Kotal:

How is the team spirit right now?

First of all, if you look at it from the perspective of team spirit, then the players are very positive and we are giving our 100% on the field. We only have one choice - to win the next match and with that as the target, we are practising every day and following the coach's orders. So, everyone is positive and the spirit is up. We are confident that we can get a good result.

Is there any plan in place to improve the defence after recent results?

Look, defensively in the the last two matches against FC Goa and FC Pune City, we conceded five goals. So, we understand that the performances were not great. We are trying to rectify all the little mistakes that we made in practice and we will try not to concede goals in the next match. If we don't concede goals, we have enough quality up front to score and we will do so.

Significance of the match against Mumbai City FC?

This is a must-win match for us if we want to be in contention for the top-four. This match is extremely important and we have to win it. The team is definitely up for the challenge. All matches are important for us right now. The last two matches against Mumbai City FC and Delhi Dynamos FC are like finals for us. We have prepared well for it and are hoping to get a win against Mumbai City FC.

How does it feel to be back home and playing for ATK again?

It feels really good. I was with ATK when we became champions in the 2016 campaign and now that I have returned, it feels good. I will try to get ATK good results and our only aim now is to get to the top-four. So, I will give my 100% to try and make sure that happens and I give good results to my team.

Hitesh Sharma:

Thoughts on your call-up to the Indian U-23 camp.

It’s a good feeling to represent the country and all players playing from any country expect the chance to perform. So it’s a really good opportunity for me to prove myself and improve both.

Thoughts on having the likes of Manuel Lanzarote in the dressing room.

Playing with good players always improves you. Last season I was with Robbie Keane and this season, we have (Manuel) Lanzarote. They help us in the match and in training also. They help us a lot.

Thoughts on ATK’s qualification chances.

The road is very difficult as everyone knows but for us it’s match-by-match. To win the next match is very important to the fans and everyone so it’s important for us to win.

Thoughts on the match against Mumbai City FC.

Preparation has been good. They are strong and quite fast on the wings. They always play on the counter but we are preparing well. Hope we win.

Read the match preview here.