NorthEast United FC’s talisman Federico Gallego is optimistic about the future of Indian football following the addition of SC East Bengal in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL). The Uruguayan believes that the expansion of the league to 11 teams bodes well for the development of Indian players and will help in constantly keeping them ‘competition ready’.

“It's great that the league is adding teams as it is essential for competition and for Indian football to continue advancing on a large scale. Adding teams increases the number of games per season, and that is good for the players and, above all, for the national team to keep their players in constant competition readiness,” Gallego said in an interview with sportskeeda.com.

READ: Mark your calendars with these fixtures as Hero ISL 2020-21 draws closer

“Every year, the improvement in the Indian players is noticeable. Most of them have a lot of quality, and the best thing to keep improving is to stay in the competition and keep training. I also believe that there is an excellent range for improvement, so they can continue to improve day by day, and that is even better,” he added.

Having signed a contract extension with the Highlanders, Gallego is confident of a strong Hero ISL 2020-21, similar to NorthEast’s 2018-19 campaign when the Uruguayan led the club to the top four. “Let's hope that the third (season with NorthEast) resembles the first one; we will surely do the impossible, as a group, to make this happen. I am very excited and very anxious for this to happen,” the 30-year-old shared.

With the new season less than three weeks away, teams have begun full-fledged preparations for the league and Gallego shared his objectives for Hero ISL 2020-21. “Our goal will be to take it one game at a time but, without a doubt, we want to qualify for the playoffs again and fight to win the championship. It will be a long and hard season and a bit unusual for everyone, but we hope to adapt in the best way to this new normal,” he said.