Hyderabad FC will look to revive their Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 campaign when they take on Chennaiyin FC at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. Both teams will be looking to recover from losses in their previous match with the hosts, in particular, needing a victory after a run of eight winless games that’s kept them rooted at the bottom of the standings.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Hyderabad head coach Phil Brown gave his opinion on Chennaiyin head coach Owen Coyle and the upcoming challenge “Chennai has had a change of coach. He is a very experienced manager, so this is not his first venture.  I think he got an immediate response when he joined Chennai. And now he is getting used to the way the Hero ISL works and its difficulties. And I’m looking forward to the challenges he will bring. It’s the first of three home games (for us). Our home performances haven’t been that bad. The supporters have stayed with us and we rewarded them with some good results. Hopefully the home performances will arrest the situation we are in.”

The Englishman then addressed his side’s propensity to concede goals, “The fact that we need to keep clean sheets sums up our season. Against Kerala, I thought a clean sheet could possibly be coming. Rafael (Lopez) and Matthew Kilgallon formed a rigid partnership. I think it comes down to the experience of the two guys. It also comes down to Asish Rai and his tenacity and pace at full-back. We have to really pull together and work as a group. We do work hard on the training ground.”

Brown went on to offer an update on Rafael’s injury, “This injury will probably keep him on the sidelines for a long time which is not great news for him or us. But we cannot feel sorry for ourselves. We got to do the best for the club, the fans and the badge. We have a lot of pride to play for. We have seven matches to make sure this season doesn’t die.”

Adding to this, the 60-year-old spoke about their previous opponents Kerala Blasters, “It’s difficult for me to pull back my emotions on a key player in a game which we were winning comfortably 1-0. The injury to Rafa is probably one of the main reasons we were unable to control their two strikers. I think their strikers are one of the best pairings because they have physicality and technicality and pace and goals. They could finish the season strong if they keep both Messi (Bouli) and (Bartholomew) Ogbeche up front. I was angry (with the loss) but afterwards I apologised and wished them well.”

Joining Brown at the press conference was Asish, who spoke about the upcoming encounter, “We will play to win three points. We need to work hard with the coaches on the training ground. Hopefully we will get the result we want.”

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