Kerala Blasters FC take on Odisha FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday with the hope of regaining some form in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20. The Kochi-based side lost their last two matches after beating ATK in the opening fixture.

Local hero Rahul KP, who scored his maiden goal for the club in the last match against Hyderabad, spoke to indiansuperleague.com before the tie. Here are excerpts from the pre-match interview.

Your combined well with Sahal Abdul Samad for your first goal. How far you think your partnership will flourish?

It was a great assist from Sahal. I knew he was going to put the ball in that space. We always talk about that, whenever he gets the ball and if I have space, I will make the run and he is going to put the ball in for me. We are confident and everyone in the team worked for that goal. It was a good finish, a great effort by the team. I am looking forward to playing with Sahal because we are both local boys. We are showing the people that we are good enough, that we can do things. I hope that will inspire a lot of children who are growing up watching football. If they watch us playing maybe they will fall in love with football, maybe they can look up to us, which will help football grow in Kerala.

How’s the mood in the camp currently?

The mood in the camp is positive, everyone believes in each other, we have great bonding in the team. Despite losing the game, they were motivating each other; our captain and coach were very positive. Even in training, we don’t take any light sessions or sit back and relax, we put in all our effort. I feel great to have the best team, I am happy I am in the right team, because my teammates are the best, they always talk to me about the match. Together, we are finding the best possible way to get the three points.

First goal in the Hero ISL. How does that feel?

I am happy that I scored my first ever goal in the Hero ISL. I want to thank everyone who supported me, believed in me, the supporters who came all the way to Hyderabad for our team. The result wasn’t good enough for us, so that goal wasn’t something that matters to me. When you win a game, you can go back and think about the goal you scored and enjoy yourself, but when you lose you don’t really think about your goal. All you think about is your own performance. I wasn’t really doing well, but I know what I am going to do going forward, I am learning from my mistakes. I want to thank everyone who believed in me, especially the head coach because he told me ‘You will score.’

Three goals in your last three appearance for Indian Arrows. Are we going to see that Rahul KP in the upcoming matches?

Last year I had a great season playing for Indian Arrows. The last three games were beautiful for me and my team. I scored in all three matches, it is great thinking about the things I did for Indian arrows, I had great teammates too. However, you cannot compare that to this right here, this is totally a different place for me. I am new here, I played in the Hero I-league for two seasons, I know how it is, now I want to see how the Hero ISL feels like. I was working hard and believing in myself and that is what I’m doing here as well. I want to prove to myself and show everyone that I am the best. I believe that I am the best. That is my mindset. I am going to put in the effort in the training and games, I am trying to learn from my mistakes. The more mistakes you make the more you learn, and I am ready for this challenge.

Read the Match Preview here.