On the eve of Kerala Blasters FC’s first home game of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), player and head coach David James seemed visibly glad to be back in Kochi. “After the six weeks that we have been away, we are relieved to be coming back home, and it is good to know that we don’t have to pack our bags every two days to run off to a new place. The support around Kochi has been very good, the fans are amazing and this has been an extension to the growing supporter group that we have noticed in the away games,” the former England goalkeeper said while addressing the media on Wednesday. James went on to highlight that although some players within the team are experiencing injuries, football is about the whole team. “We have 29 players in the squad, so I don’t even look at injuries. I think, in Mumbai, we had seven players that could have started but they didn’t due to injuries. But again, it is all about the entire squad. We have a side that will be challenging for this title, and the Pune game proved that. After going 1-0 down to a strong side, we still won.”He added, “We want to win every game, but we also know that to win the league you need to pick up points, which we have done in the away leg and now we have the home games and hopefully that will help get us to the knock outs.”The former Liverpool and Manchester City player was asked if he would be playing in Thursday’s game, to which he jokingly replied, “I hope so! Even for the previous game, I was fit and could have started, but I was not confident enough to see out the full 90 minutes of the game. So I decided to sit it out as I did not want to compromise on making decisions or changes that would have been selfish, and likewise, any selection based on me would be only if I feel 100% fit. I believe that everyone in the squad will get a chance to play in this competition.”Ironically, something that James holds a record for has become a matter of concern for him. “Every goal that we have conceded has come from restarts; like for the Pune game where the goal came from a quick free kick. And because of our pre-season, I am confident that we can score more goals. It’s just that we need to get into our rhythm and start scoring, so as much as I want clean sheets, I also want us to score more goals.”He further stressed that it was amazing to be back at the home ground, “It feels good to be back here! James McAllister said that our preseason is now over, and we can start our season now because we have been on the road for so long. There is a genuine buzz around the team and it feels good to be walking into the stadium and training ground wearing our logos and seeing our logos everywhere instead of the other teams'. Things are good and I look forward to tomorrow.”
