Chennaiyin FC head coach Marco Materazzi sees a glimmer of hope for his team as regards their semi-final chances despite losing their last three matches in the 2015 Hero Indian Super League. The Super Machans lost to FC Goa (2-1) and NorthEast United FC (2-1) at home before suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Atletico de Kolkata at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. However, Materazzi, ahead of their game against Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, refused to rule his team out of semi-final contention.“We lost many games. Regarding the Goa game, there were so many mistakes… After that I wasn't so trustful but after the game in Kolkata everything changed because we displayed a good game…Now the confidence level is higher than before because after the NorthEast game we were not so confident but after what we saw in Kolkata now we are back on track,” Materazzi told reporters on Friday.“I think regarding the physical condition I think all my players were running until the 95th minute [in the last few matches]. So, I want to see that. As you can see that other teams are also facing physical issues. Regarding the [semis] hopes, I think there is not much to think about. We have to take one game at a time and I hope to win the next game and after that I will think about the other game.”Kerala, on the other hand, have had two wins from their last three matches and in their last game against NorthEast United FC registered a thumping 4-1 victory. When asked whether the Blasters’ current form was a concern for the Super Machans, Materazzi said: “The only thing I am concerned about is that they had more time to recover, we have had only two days [having played ATK on Wednesday] and we are playing tomorrow and then 24th but I think at this stage of the league there is no point thinking about that, we just have to give everything we have. Kerala had a really good game against NorthEast but still they have to give everything as we do. So I think it’s going to be a good game.”Materazzi also dismissed a suggestion that he was trying out a new defence combination every match. “I have always played with the same defence because [Mehrajuddin] Wadoo, Dhanachandra [Singh] are always playing, I switch the central defenders because of my personal choice. I am not worried about the defence in particular. The only thing that now we are focused on is to attack but sometimes we are not focused and we have conceded on counter-attacks and now all the teams know that, and they are going to play on that. So we are going to focus more on that.”When asked whether they were too reliant on Raphael Augusto, Elano and Stiven Mendoza, Materazzi replied in the negative. “I wouldn't say that we are predictable because when Jayesh [Rane] was playing, when we played against Goa we scored four goals against a team that scored 7 goals [against Mumbai City FC] later. So I wouldn't say we are predictable. I would like to have all my players in good physical condition all the time but as you can see that this is not possible. So the choice of making Raphael play, you all saw he is an amazing player, you all saw his skills. He is a top player, this is the reason I always make him play,” he said.
