Sitting at the bottom of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) table and already out of contention for a playoff spot, last season's champions Chennaiyin FC will be hoping to salvage some pride in their remaining fixtures, beginning with a home tie against FC Pune City on Saturday.

A day prior to the match, Chennaiyin head coach John Gregory attended the pre-match press conference to answer the media's questions. During the interaction, Gregory shared his thoughts about his new signings Halicharan Narzary and CK Vineeth and stated that the duo would be vital for his team in the upcoming matches. "We have two new guys who came in last week, CK Vineeth and Halicharan Narzary. Both domestic players. So, it helps us a little bit with the lack of foreigners we have in the line-up. But I’m more than happy to play Indians in the team,” he said.

The Englishman also addressed the departure of defender Inigo Calderon who left the club because of personal reasons and said, "We lost Inigo. He has gone back home. He’s a big loss for us. But we are likely to make one or two replacements in the week or so."

Asked about the team's objectives for the rest of the season, Gregory responded, "We will be giving everything we can in the Hero ISL. But our mind has started to drift a little bit towards the AFC Cup. I would love to have a cup triumph to show for at the end of this season, just like the last. We want to do well in both the cup competitions. We have to do better in the Super Cup than we did last season. And before that, salvage some pride in the Hero ISL."

Gregory’s fellow countryman Phil Brown took over the FC Pune City side recently. Asked if he had the opportunity to interact with Brown, Gregory revealed, "Yes, we had a good chat this morning for 10-15 minutes. He has gone into a situation at Pune where they have an outside chance of getting into the playoffs if results go their way. If they get maximum points from their remaining matches, they could sneak into it. It’s a tough call for them."

“He is going into a club that won their last match, they beat Goa in their last game, played very well and kept a clean sheet. When a new coach comes in, it tends to reinvigorate the players and gives them a different perspective, different ideas and maybe a different way of playing. They played in a certain formation in the last match against Goa which was successful. Phil might come in and change it. We won’t know until we step out on the pitch," Gregory added.

The Hero ISL 2017-18 winning coach ended his pre-match duties by hinting at a few changes to his starting line-up. "As one or two people have not been available for us, other people get a chance to come in and do well. It's like an audition. You need to be at your very best because then if you come into the side and maybe score a couple of goals or play particularly well from a defensive point of view, the coach is going to keep you in the team. Last season we didn’t make many changes. We’re still searching and changing," he said.

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