Hyderabad FC's final match of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 season takes them to Guwahati to face NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on Thursday. Currently rooted to the bottom of the points table, Hyderabad will look to finish their campaign with a flourish.

At the pre-match press conference, Hyderabad interim head coach Javier Gurri Lopez summed up Hyderabad’s season and said, “The season hasn’t been the best and the situation for the players was not the best when I arrived. But the motivation of the players has been fantastic in the last five weeks. We have been competing in all the games. For us, the next game is the last game of the season, and everybody knows how important it is to finish the season with a victory.”

Illustrating the positives from the otherwise disappointing season, Lopez said, “There is always something positive. For example, we have given chances to the younger players with huge talent like Liston Colaco, Mohammad Yasir and Hitesh Sharma, who have a possibility of participating in the next game.”

“Since I arrived, I have been watching all the teams and I noticed that there is no difference between the first and the last team in the Hero ISL table. Some teams have that winning mentality. That mentality helps them win the games,” he added.

Providing some team news for the upcoming fixture, Lopez informed, “We don’t have Giles Barnes, Matthew Kilgallon and Kamaljit Singh for the next match. Matthew’s absence will especially be felt because he has been key for our team but whoever plays in place of him will surely be a capable replacement.”

He was joined by player Marko Stankovic, who said, “The project is still at its initial phase. By next year, the project should look really good. It was difficult from the start, but the mood is still okay because the foreigners and the experienced players try to keep the mood high. Now it’s come to an end. We can’t rescue the season but for our pride, we want to win the game.”

Read the Match Preview here.