After a hard-fought draw at home against NorthEast United FC, Cesar Ferrando’s Jamshedpur FC will have their eyes on all three points when they face a stuttering Kerala Blasters FC side at Kochi on Tuesday. The recent resurgence of ATK and Mumbai City FC has put Jamshedpur under a lot of pressure in the race for a spot in the top four and the Miners will look to give themselves some breathing room by bagging the maximum points against Kerala, who have failed to win any of their last eight matches.

Jamshedpur head coach Ferrando addressed the media at the pre-match press conference a day prior to the tie. The Spaniard began by shrugging off claims that Kerala’s poor form will make his team the favourites going into the match. "They are a good team. Kerala are playing well. I think they have a good team and a good coach and it is a big match tomorrow. They will play in front of their supporters. I think they want to win but we are ready to play," he said.

Before the season started, Jamshedpur created waves by signing Tim Cahill, but the Australian great has been far from his prolific best so far. Cahill has scored only once in the Hero ISL so far and has been largely utilised as an impact sub. Ferrando, however, stated that he was pleased with his star striker’s overall contribution and suggested that he will have a role to play against Kerala. "Tim is playing very well. He came back from Australia ten days ago. I think he will be ready to play tomorrow. We need him. I hope he can play tomorrow.”

Cahill’s lack of goals has been compensated by the brilliance of young Michael Soosairaj, who has impressed everyone this season. The winger’s trickery and pace out wide has been a real worry for opposing defences so far. Asked about the 24-year-old's meteoric rise, Ferrando said, "Soosairaj, in the pre season, improved a lot. I’m very happy with his work. He has worked very hard from the first day of the pre season until this moment. I’m very happy with him."

He concluded his pre-match press conference by confirming that Raju Gaikwad, Yumnam Raju and Sergio Cidoncha will be unavailable for the match owing to injuries.

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