FC Pune City welcome FC Goa to the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 on Sunday. The Stallions, who are currently second with 29 points from 16 games, know that a win would cement qualification for the playoffs. Addressing the media during the pre-match press conference was their head coach Ranko Popovic, and he spoke about the importance of making the playoffs.

“It (sealing a playoff spot) is important because it’s the history of the club,” Popovic said. “It’s the same for us. Every game that we play we try to take the three points. This is what I was talking from the beginning. If you win the games, in the end you will have a good position and reach your target. It’s a big thing if we are in the semi-finals.”

The Serbian added what he wanted from his team in the next few matches. “We have to keep up the attitude and all the things that we are doing until now that bring us in the position to be where we are,” Popovic stated. “Only if we continue to do the same things we can do the good things in the future also. This is why we want to give our best.”

He further elaborated, “I want to think about the performance of the team, about the defence and the attack. If we think about these things we can score one goal more than Goa and get the three` points for us and close this part of the championship in front of our fans in a good way.”

The 50-year-old concluded by saying, “For us, it’s important to play a serious game and to be at our level. This is what we’re trying to do from the beginning to push each other and compete for a place in the team. We conserve this and I’m happy about this.”