NorthEast United FC enter match-week six at the back of two consecutive defeats and will look to get back to winning ways when they host Mumbai City FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium at Guwahati on Wednesday. The Highlanders currently sit ninth on the league table with just one win under their belt and will look to take complete advantage of their spirited home support to drive home a victory.

The one aspect that has stood out for the Highlanders this season is their inability to score, as they have managed to find the back of the net only twice in their five matches. In the pre-match press conference, the home team’s head coach Joao de Deus was asked what according to him was the reason behind his team’s scoring deficiency to which he said, “Our defence is the second-best in the league. We have a strong defence, sometimes we suffer from mistakes or from situations which don’t have anything to do with the backline as happened in the game against Kerala. In the attack also we have a problem. We have scored only twice till now. But we are working to change that and I believe we can change that at any moment. Of course, it is a concern if we don’t score, but everybody realises that. I hope in a couple of games, we will all stop speaking about it.”

He continued, “We have played five games, but no one loses or wins after five games. This is a different kind of competition. Even at the end, the one who finishes first doesn’t win so you have to keep that in mind. We have to start getting more goals. When it happens, we will get more points for sure. This year we have two more teams so the competition has changed.”

NorthEast has one of the most passionate fans in the country and speaking about them and his own mindset, the Portuguese shared, “First of all, I would like to invite everybody to come see our match tomorrow because it is in the difficult moments that we need more support. I want the fans to come here, support us and help us to do whatever we can to win the match. To answer your question, the amount of pressure which I put on myself is much more than any other environment. I believe in what I think, what I do and when things don’t go well, I pressure myself more than you can imagine.”