NorthEast United FC take on Hyderabad FC in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday. Already out of the top four race, the Highlanders will look to win their remaining two matches and end their otherwise disappointing campaign on a high.

At the pre-match press conference, NorthEast’s interim head coach Khalid Jamil reiterated the importance of a win in the coming fixture and said, “We are not thinking much about the opponents. This is our second last game, so definitely we will go for the three points, there is no doubt about that.”

Asked if his team will be going on the offensive from the get-go against a bottom-placed Hyderabad side, Jamil stated, “It depends on the game. We must see how the opponent plays. We must go step by step. We will not go on all-out attack. This is our home ground and we are only going for the win and the three points.”

NorthEast will be without four players – Redeem Tlang, Jose Leudo, Rakesh Pradhan and Wayne Vaz – for the match owing to suspensions. Speaking about the missing players, Jamil noted, “Suspensions are out of our control. We cannot do anything about it. They will be available for the next match.”

Addressing the problems that plagued NorthEast’s season this term, Jamil said, “We had a lot of injuries and some player changes as well.”

He was joined by young striker Dipu Mirdha, who signed for the Highlanders recently. “Jamil sir is the reason I am at this club. I love practicing here. I haven’t practiced like this before. We are playing well but we conceded late goals that is why we are in this position.”

Read the Match Preview here.