NorthEast United FC host Chennaiyin FC on Tuesday at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in what already looks like a must-win encounter for the Highlanders, having made a shaky start to their campaign which has seen them lose their opening three matches. Their opponent Chennai, though, are in top form and have scored six goals in their last two matches. NEUFC head coach César Farías spoke to reporters ahead of his side’s second home game of the season. The Venezuelan knows that his boys face an uphill task against the in-form visitors.

“From the moment we started the pre-season, we started a resolution and work to be able to compete. And even though we haven't got the results that we expected, in life and football there are some adversities that you have to face. I think the team atmosphere is intact and we're starting to solve the adversities that we had to face, so some new players coming in and all that… So we're ready to overcome all those and the biggest thing is that. Even though we haven’t got the results and when you lose you don't see any positive, we know there have been many positives and we're correcting the adversities that we had and are moving forward,” said Farías when asked about his side’s performances so far this season.

When quizzed on what went wrong for his side during their last home outing after making a positive start, Farías explained: “We know we had to play with some constraints at the beginning because not having 6-8 players makes you play the same players for 90 minutes. Then players tend to make mistakes due to fatigue. For example, in the Pune game when they put the subs in they were better in the game because they had fresh legs out there and it makes a difference. But we are now starting to solve this and the stability that we need; and we have fresher legs so we are looking forward to our next games.”

The head coach, however seemed confident of his side’s chances for Tuesday’s clash against Chennaiyin FC. Farías believes his side’s morale is still very much intact despite a few setbacks and hopes to see his players turn things around on the pitch soon.

“It's hard to explain when you are losing because it sounds like an excuse but in reality the group is very intact and very solid and very united to face anything that comes our way. We are sure that the work that we did in pre-season will pay its dividends soon because the team is good.”

The Highlanders’ head coach also made a rallying cry to NorthEast United FC’s supporters and said that the team was working really hard to turn things around for what he labelled ‘passionate’ home-support.

“We are working very hard; training sessions have been excellent; the response from the players has been excellent. The gelling between the international and local players has been great. If that wasn't possible, we would have never created so many scoring chances. We also have to transfer the calmness to our players because we know we've created chances and not panic in front of goal. Because the moment we start scoring and winning, we'll be an unstoppable force. There's nothing more motivational than seeing the people here in Guwahati. They love the team and football. They're passionate for it,” he concluded.