NorthEast United FC travel to the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur to take on Jamshedpur FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 on Saturday. The Highlanders have had a forgettable campaign and will be looking to end the season on a high even though they’re virtually out of contention for the playoff spots.

Their head coach Avram Grant is expecting a tough contest against Jamshedpur and made his thoughts clear while speaking to reporters at the pre-match press conference. “Jamshedpur is a very good team. They have conceded the least goals in the league, I think. Their defence is very difficult to break down and they’re very good in attack as well. They’re playing good so it will be a tough game. You saw our team in the last games. We also want to be tough and it will surely be a good game.”

While commenting on how he wants his side to cope with Jamshedpur, the Israeli added: “From the first day I came here, I wanted to have a strategy that does not need to change in every game because it’s not good. We have a good strategy, good tactics and we just need to pass the ball. We want to apply that tomorrow. Of course, like any game, you want to use the opponent’s weakness and stop them in their tracks. But for us, our strategy remains the same, as we did in the last games. To play good football, entertaining football and we would try to be efficient also.”

With a playoff berth almost out of sight, Grant explained what the motivation was for his players to perform. “If you’re a football player or you’re an athlete, you always have to push yourself. It doesn’t matter what the situation is. That is what we want to do. In the last game, we fought very very well, even though we didn’t win. But we really improved our game and the team is playing good. Everybody admitted that we are playing very good and because of that, there’s a little frustration with what happened in the last game and the one before that. But you saw that the team showed good mentality and we want to continue with the same mentality. It may not be going our way when you look at the results, but in every game, we need to have a good mentality to win the game.”

As far as injuries were concerned, Grant revealed: “We have two injuries, who will not be ready for the game tomorrow, as of now. Also, the schedule is not so good, I think. I came from England and I know all about Christmas games, but I don’t think it’s good to play in every two days when you also need to be on the road 10-11 hours. It’s not good for any team. A part of the injuries is due to this reason, not only in our team but other teams as well.”

When asked about the impact made by new recruit John Mosquera, who has already scored once for the Highlanders after coming off the bench, the 63-year-old said: “John is a good player. We signed him but we knew he didn’t play much before. We needed to sign at the last moment so we took him. Anything can happen tomorrow, but he’s not ready for 90 minutes, yet.”