Mumbai City FC eye a huge improvement on their previous two seasons as they take on FC Pune City to kick off their 2016 Hero Indian Super League campaign at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Monday. The Mumbaikars have never been good starters losing their opener to Atlético de Kolkata and FC Pune City in 2014 and 2015 respectively, and probably that explains their seventh and sixth finishes. However, their new head coach Alexandre Guimaraes is confident that the story won’t be repeated thrice and that they will get their campaign off to a flier against a team whose record at home is very impressive.“We are ready, we are prepared. After a long period of practice, everybody wants to play. Especially after watching the nice ceremony in Guwahati. So, we are prepared to start,” the Costa Rican told the media on Sunday.“We are aware of that [Pune’s good home record]. We have to play to our strengths and how we have prepared and play tough…Everybody [including the opposition] wants to get points in the first game,” he added.Jackichand Singh, who played for FC Pune City last season, also accompanied Guimaraes to the media interaction and spoke of what was going in his head about the match and his switch to Mumbai.“This is the first match. We are focused on winning. I have played in Pune last year but now I am with Mumbai. A player’s life is such and you have to focus on doing well for your team and give your 100%,” he said.Mumbai appear heavily reliant on their marquee Diego Forlan in their bid for a maiden semis appearance this year and they get a big boost from the fact that the Uruguay legend is in good shape ahead of the game. “He has been practicing since day one in Dubai. He feels ok. The other players in the squad also feel ok. Now it’s time to play,” Guimaraes shed light on their marquee’s fitness.However, he admitted to having a few fitness concerns. “From the possible players that we have, yes we have some situations that you know about injured players and some other guys. But we are confident that we can do ok with the squad that we have available for selection and get some points from here.”Guimaraes also acknowledged the quality of Indian representation in his squad but refused to be drawn into making comparisons with the foreign players in the team. “Here since day one we have built a new team. There is no difference between local and foreign players. They all understand what I want. We have a very good mix. I have no complaints,” he said.
