Odisha FC interim head coach Kino Garcia believes his team can get past their opponents ATK Mohun Bagan provided that they pounce on the chances they get during the match, as the Juggernauts play the Mariners in the rescheduled match no 53 of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) on Sunday at the PJN Stadium in Margao, Goa.

Garcia is aware of the absence of Hugo Boumous in the Juan Ferrando-led side and urged his players to not get carried away as the side still has a threatening attack. He admitted that his team is sticking together despite the Covid-19 scares in the league and that a win will be a morale booster for his side.

Ahead of the clash against ATK Mohun Bagan, Garcia addressed the media during a pre-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from the coach’s press conference:

You won the last match with a clean sheet. So, how much of a confidence will you get from this match to play against one of the strongest teams  in the Hero ISL in ATK Mohun Bagan?

I have trust in my players. I know that if they are confident and feel at their best, they can make things good. I know that even the opponents we face this week are tough and of course they are going to have chances. I think that the team can compete against everybody, even against ATK Mohun Bagan.

We saw that against Mumbai when they were leading the table. Knowing that ATK Mohun Bagan is going to have clear chances, we must be having a clean sheet, not conceding goals, having good order in set-pieces, and having a good organization in defence is good for us to build confidence in the players. We have to work match by match and only think in terms of a good performance.

Do you think the absence of Hugo Boumous due to suspension will be an advantage to Odisha FC on Sunday?

We know the quality of Boumous, and of course, not having that player on the pitch will be something good for us, but we also have to understand that they have Liston [Colaco], Roy Krishna, Williams [David]. They have options in the attack, and we don’t think that only because of the absence of one player, we would be gaining any advantage.

Of course, Boumous is having a big impact in the league in providing assists and scoring goals, but ATK Mohun Bagan have lots of quality in them. We are thinking how we can beat the ATK Mohun Bagan team with our whole team and not just in terms of advantage.

How has been the mood in the camp after the win against NorthEast United FC in the last game. And what are you looking forward to in the game against ATK Mohun Bagan?

The mood after winning is, obviously, good. So, after winning against NorthEast with a clean sheet is what we practised in training. We too are struggling with the difficulty of being in quarantine because of the covid situation, we understand that safety is first. It’s hard for the players, it’s hard for the staff, and for everybody in here.

We hope we can continue having good results so we can keep the mood high and of course giving chances to all the players to compete and bring three points to the team.

ATK Mohun Bagan have a lethal attack. What is your gameplan to tackle that on Sunday?            

We have trained ourselves enough to be prepared to face them. We know that they have powerful attackers. We will try to disconnect the attacking frontline with the rest of the team, let’s see if it works in the match, let’s see if we can do it properly. But we think that if we get our chances right, we can get the three points.