Kerala Blasters FC head coach Steve Coppell is looking forward to testing his team against what he considers ‘arguably the best team’ in the 2016 Hero Indian Super League. Yes, the stage is all set for the first southern derby of the season as the Blasters take the field against defending champions Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday evening.

“I’m looking forward to it. If you look at Chennai, they’re arguably the best team. They won the league phase in the first year topping the table and they won the league last year. They have a strong squad and they have a formula. You want to play against the best team and see where you sit and it’ll be a difficult task and I see that in all their games they’ve played this year, they have got a variety of styles and it’s a challenge for the coach playing against. You want to do well as they’re arguably the best and you want to judge yourself against the best,” Coppell told reporters on Friday.

Kerala and Chennai have quite a rivalry going on beginning from the first leg of their semi-final of Hero ISL 2014 when the Blasters beat the Super Machans 3-0 against all odds. Even though Chennaiyin won the second leg, it wasn’t enough to seal them a place in the final. Out of six encounters between these teams, Chennaiyin have won four, Kerala have won one and one game has ended in a draw. When asked if the history between the teams will have any bearing on the game on Saturday, Coppell said: “I’ve been made aware of the history but it means nothing to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just another game to me. I don’t think we have players who are caught up in the past. Different year, different players and different occasion, so we won’t have a problem. We play them again in a couple of weeks in the league and so may the best team come out on top in both the fixtures.”

Coppell’s team started their Hero ISL 2016 campaign off on the wrong foot with back-to-back defeats but they have turned it around since with two wins and two draws and their best performance came away against FC Goa in their last match as they came from behind to register a 2-1 win. The 61-year-old Englishman agreed that the win could give immeasurable confidence to his players, which could be significant in the long run.

“Any win in this division is important because it’s so close. Coming up to half point in the league, there’s little difference in points between the top and the bottom teams and so any win is precious and certainly against Goa. To be a goal down and then win is psychologically important for us,” he said.