Chennaiyin FC will be looking to claw their way back into the top 4 of Hero Indian Super League 2016 on Saturday when they take on Kerala Blasters FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The defending champions are currently second from bottom with 10 points from eight matches. This will be the second south Indian derby of the season after the previous encounter between these two teams ended in a 0-0 stalemate in Chennai.Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference in Kochi, head coach Marco Materazzi insisted that his players had to quickly move on from a 4-1 humiliating defeat in their last match against Delhi Dynamos FC. “Football is a game with a lot of ups and downs, so after the game [against Delhi] you have to focus,” said Materazzi.The last time these two teams met, both sides were involved in an altercation in the tunnel after the action had heated up on the pitch. Materazzi was handed a one-match suspension for his involvement. Commenting on that, the Italian said: “I was just out there to have a word with [Kervens] Belfort but after the game between NorthEast United FC and Mumbai City [that also involved an altercation], nothing happened. Same thing for Kerala vs Goa, nothing happened. This is not fair to me,” he said.Materazzi was also quick to draw inspiration from their late semis surge last year while answering a question regarding their current predicament in the league. “Last season we were last [around this stage of the league] and this season we are second to last [so there is still plenty of hope],” he said.
