Chennaiyin FC will be eager to bounce back with a win against NorthEast United FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday after a defeat at the hands of FC Goa in their opening fixture of Hero Indian Super League 2017-18. The southerners fought valiantly in the second half against Goa and scored twice despite eventually losing 3-2.

Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, Chennaiyin head coach John Gregory explained why his players can’t wait to get back out on the pitch. “As coaching staff, and also as players, the first thing you want to do after a loss is get back on the field and try and correct the performance from Sunday. So, we get the chance very quickly. Thursday’s coming around, and it can’t come quick enough. Most of us would want to get back out there on the field and try and make up for a bit of lost time,” he said.

The hosts have never beaten NorthEast in Chennai but that’s not a record a confident Gregory seemed to be perturbed by. “Records are there to be broken, and statistics come up all the time. I believe that Jeje, the most goals that he has scored against any other team is Pune. So, he has that one coming up next week, which he wants to maintain, but obviously, NorthEast have never lost here. They’ve been here three times and never lost. So eventually, it’s got to happen, and we’ll do everything we possibly can to make sure it’s Thursday,” the Englishman said.

The 63-year-old also provided an injury update about key members from his squad. “Germanpreet (Singh) is fit. He has recovered; he had a slight knock which he got with the national team… but he’s recovered. We always thought that he just had enough time to recover for the game against NorthEast. So, he’s fully fit and back on the training ground with the rest of the guys,” Gregory said.

He continued: “Raphael (Augusto), there is a small doubt about him going into the game, but anybody that knows Raphael, if you ever ask him the question, ‘Are you fit enough to play?’ His response will always be ‘Yes’. He wanted to play so badly on Sunday, and he scored a goal, and did lots of very good things throughout the 90 minutes. He’s a bit of a warrior. Raphael gave everything in that game. Once or twice he got some really heavy challenges against him, had a bit of treatment on the field, but got back up again and continued right up till the 97^th minute. He’s a competitor. Certainly, a bit battered and bruised on Monday morning, like most of us were. But he’s fine, he’s fit and he’s training, and will be up for selection tomorrow.”

Looking ahead to their match against NorthEast, Gregory expects a tough contest during which they’ll have to be switched on during set-piece situations. “NorthEast from their opening game, we saw bits of their play we feel might be a weakness, but they have also got a lot of strengths in their side. They have got a lot of good players, and are a big side. We’ll certainly need to be aware on set pieces. They deliver good set pieces as well. So, it’s another tough game for us... NorthEast is (also) a tough nut to crack. They have been defending very well. I would imagine they were a little disappointed against Jamshedpur, because they had some really good chances. The Jamshedpur goalkeeper made some brilliant saves actually, which kept them in the game at 0-0. So, they’ll be a very tough team to play against,” the Chennai head coach concluded.