Kerala Blasters FC travel to the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Friday to take on FC Pune City in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18. Last year’s finalists are in a situation where they really cannot afford any slip-ups, and they will have some momentum with them seeing that they beat Delhi Dynamos FC in their last encounter. Prior to the crucial match against the Stallions, Kerala’s head coach David James addressed the media and began by highlighting the importance of the win against the Lions.

“The defeat to Goa was tough,” he stated. “It left us in a position where we quite literally have to win six games in a row. So, Delhi had to be a win. A tough performance in the sense that we lost a player only 10 minutes before the bus departed, and we had to make some changes. But the team’s form itself was very, very good.”

Regarding the performance, James added, “We found we had some talent in the young players as well. The confidence of the players leading up to the game was good. It was a confident performance and put us one step closer to achieving six wins.”

The standout player in that match was youngster Deependra Negi, who came on as a substitute to score with his first touch in Hero ISL and James lauded his performance. “The Delhi game was interesting with young Deependra Negi coming in and doing something,” the Englishman remarked. “I was not surprised by his performance but was surprised that he played so well straight away.”

When asked about bringing in players in the transfer window, the former Liverpool custodian replied, “One of the things you do as a head coach is not stifle the opportunities of your players. Bringing in players can be done, but it does not mean it is the right thing for the club. It was not Deependra alone. There were other performances in there as well which were so encouraging that it kind of changes your mindset on how you got to approach the remaining five games.”

The 47-year-old also shared some good news on the injury front. “I think I am in the best position as head coach with regards to selection options,” James revealed. “There are some knocks which happen of course. But, we had a lot of people on the training field too. It’s a headache in one sense because you have then got to really think about who you have to pick. There is going to be a lot of thoughts on who starts and who is going to be on the bench tomorrow, because we have got a lot of options.”