Thursday will witness a battle of the first-timers, as the two Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 debutants - Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC, lock horns at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The Blues have impressed with their effective style of play and have constantly occupied the first two spots in the points table till now. However, they will be more pumped to deliver after their first home defeat against Chennaiyin FC last time around.

Present at the pre-match press conference was the home team’s head coach Albert Roca, who was asked how the previous match defeat would weigh on his team. He replied, “I just want to win quickly after the loss in the previous match. It is very important to react, and at home, we cannot concede more points. My players know how important it is to win tomorrow, even more so after the last result. So, we will try our best as always, and hope that things will be better than last time.”

In the match against Chennai, Roca rested a number of main players which may have cost them the match. When asked if this strategy of his backfired, he said, “We did some rotation the other day. It was to ensure that some of the players were not playing too much. We hope that the freshness coming from the bench will give us more. We knew at the beginning of the week, how difficult it will be to face these three games. I think we are ready mentally and our supporters will be there again, and we don’t want to disappoint them. It is a question of fighting until the last moment.”

Speaking on their opponents, who has been one of the top defensive teams this season, the Spaniard revealed, “We try to prepare as much as possible for every game. We know how difficult it is to play Jamshedpur because they have barely conceded any goals. It makes the challenge even more difficult, but it is something that we know, and something that we have to be prepared for. We must also know how to prevent their counters, but we need to take risks to win the game. We don’t like to be a team who just waits. We have to go from the beginning and try to play in our own style. But we have to be aware of their counters, and be good with our transitions. The quicker we score, the better it will be for us. We need to have trust in our football. Just because we lost the last game, does not mean that we have doubts. I think in general, my team has shown skills, and if we keep working like this, we will have the results we want.”

He further elaborated, “I think we should not see too much into what happened in the last games. It is something that is there, yes, they have not scored goals or conceded goals. It is a team that plays in a very ‘English’ style, which is difficult to control. They don’t take risks, and they just want to kick the ball, so we can’t press them too much, so it will be even more difficult. I have to respect the football that they are playing, and as I said, it will be a challenge that we have to face, and it will be nice to win that kind of game.”

Bengaluru have been excellent in set-pieces this season and the 55-year-old stressed that they would be looking to take maximum advantage from the same against Jamshedpur. “Set-pieces are a very important part of football and a very important part of Bengaluru FC. We are doing well in that department, so tomorrow, why not? We have powerful players who can win confrontations, so let’s see if we are able to score, and not concede, like the last goal against Chennai which cost us points,” he shared.

Before leaving, Roca also emphasized on how important home support is in football. “For sure, there are a lot of people coming and it is an advantage for the team playing at home. At the end, I am sure we will win more points at home, because of our supporters, and I think all the teams are the same – we feel comfortable in front of our fans. Every team in the world gets intimidated by the other team’s supporters, and you feel the pressure. For us, we have to take this advantage tomorrow, but this is not a science. Anything can be possible, and we have to respect that tomorrow will be a hard game, as it was against Chennai the other day. We have to be strong and do our job with the right mentality,” he finished.