Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) leaders FC Goa will next travel to the home of Bengaluru FC in their final away fixture of the league campaign on Thursday. Both teams have already qualified for the play-offs, meaning the tie holds little significance in the context of the final four. The Gaurs have been in scintillating form off-late, winning four and drawing the other two of their last six matches, and would thus be keen to keep-up the momentum.

The FC Goa boss, Sergio Lobera, spoke at the pre-match press conference. He started-off by sharing his views on his team’s much-improved defense. “It’s true that we have improved defensively. I’m happy for that. I think every time you improve defensively, you look at the defenders and goalkeepers. But this time we have improved as a whole. Therefore, I’m very happy with the way we are working defensively. We are pressing high and recovering the ball close to the opposition area,” he said.

Lobera then, commented on how his team would be approaching tomorrow’s task. He said: “We are looking at this match as a chance to take first spot. If you look at the stats, finishing first doesn’t mean anything because if we look back, anyone who has finished first, hasn’t won the title afterwards. For us, tomorrow’s game is same as any other game. We are playing for three points.”

The Spaniard also had kind words for Lenny Rodrigues. “Lenny is a player who I like a lot. He is a player that every coach would like to have in the squad. I saw him playing for Bengaluru and knew he had the qualities to fit in our style. He is very quick. He is helping us a lot,” he said.

Concluding his pre-match briefing with his opinion on Bengaluru FC’s form, Lobera said, “I think in this competition we all go through good and bad moments. Bengaluru is still a great team with a great coach. I’m waiting to see the best of them. We are facing a great team. To be honest, I’m not worried about how Bengaluru is going to approach the game. The only thing I’m worried about is the way we are going to approach the game, because if we are 100%, I’m happy.”

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