Mumbai City FC play hosts to the team from the capital, Delhi Dynamos FC on Friday at the Mumbai Football Arena, in their quest of entering the top four in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 table. While Delhi urgently need to pull their act together to end their five-match losing streak, Mumbai will be re-energised after picking up a solid away win against NorthEast United FC in their previous encounter.

Present at the pre-match press conference for Mumbai was head coach Alexandre Guimaraes. He began by appreciating his team’s mentality after they bounced back with a win against Highlanders following a loss to ATK, “First of all, the reaction of the players and the team was very good in terms of getting up after the loss against ATK. We have to keep fighting because everybody in the ISL has a chance. I think the win is important because every game is going to be very tough as you cannot predict anything. Tomorrow is going to be a very tough game but we know that it is important to try and get a second win in a row. For that, we have to play better.”

Speaking on the right combination in his team, the Costa Rican revealed, “We are trying to get most of the players involved. In our case, we have tried from midfield to offence. Sometimes we play more direct and sometimes we have more intentions to play on the flanks. As soon as we can get consistency, then we can try to figure out the situation that we want.”

Even though Delhi currently languish at the bottom of the points table, the 58-year-old was in no mood to take the Lions lightly. “There are no easy games in the ISL. All of us, who have been following the games in the ISL, know that each game is different,” he explained. “I know that Delhi will fight very hard tomorrow because if they lose, it will be a very difficult situation for them to recover from. We are very sure that we have to play very seriously without underestimating anyone.”

Before leaving, Guimaraes was quick to appreciate the Islanders captain, Lucian Goian and the effect he was having on the team’s defence. “This (Goian) is a player who I have known for a long time. I know what he is capable of, but also he is enjoying the experience. This year he is the captain and he is much more focused on maintaining his performance. I am very glad because he is a very good professional and he is showing that he can play like a young boy and he is doing well,” he concluded.

Delhi assistant coach Shakti Chauhan was present at the press conference for the Dynamos and he shed light on what’s restricting Delhi from getting a win. He said, “To be honest, everything was going well. The training was okay, the game was okay. We are keeping ball possession. The only thing wrong is the kind of thrust we are putting in the final third. The finishing has not been up to the mark and we have been working on that for the past few games.” He further added, “The pressure is about winning. We have lost the past five games, but the format of the league is such that if you win two back to back games, you are back in contention. So, we are hoping to start our winning streak against Mumbai.”