ATK will be hoping to build on their recent victory at home against Chennaiyin FC when they host Bengaluru FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday. After a disappointing start to their 2018-19 Hero Indian Super League campaign, two-time champions ATK bounced back with two wins and a draw from their last three games. Steve Coppell and his boys though will be wary going into the contest against Bengaluru, who have taken seven points from their opening three games.

Prior to the fixture, Coppell, head coach of the home side was present at the pre-match conference to speak about the game. He began by sharing his thoughts on Bengaluru and had some kind words to say. “I think Bengaluru are the yardstick, you judge yourself by Bangalore... They started off well this year. So, we’re excited to play against them and see where we stand against arguably one of the best teams in the league… We’re excited to play against them and judge ourselves against a good side”, he said.

The Englishman stressed the need for improvement from his side and suggested one win at home isn’t enough, “We always look to improve. We view every game and 'Do we think we could have done things better? Yes of course.' We make demands of ourselves to try and improve. I don’t think one win at home is gaining momentum,” Coppell said.

He continued: “As for me, I thought it’s just a win in isolation, but we hope it’s not just that. Considering the teams in ISL, it is difficult to win at home, but we won the last game and it’ll be great for us to actually start momentum by winning again. And that’s our aim. We have practised hard and practised well this week. We are going into this game with anticipation and are looking forward to the match.”

The 63-year-old concluded the conference by offering his assessment on the competitiveness of the league this season. “It’ still too early to say. I always think after six games, that is one-third of the season then you can make a judgement call. At the moment it looks that a couple of teams are beginning to break away even at this early stage. I think everybody else is very, very competitive. It is yet to be determined who is going to become the top of that group. We will obviously look to be making advances going up. But it is demanding, every game is demanding... Although it’s only a short league, it’s a long season. There are so many changes within that season that can affect your performances, you know key injuries here and there can make a big difference,” Coppell said.

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