FC Pune City will gear up for the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18’s first derby when Mumbai City FC travel to the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. After losing 3-2 to Delhi Dynamos FC in their first home match of the season, Pune will be aiming at turning the tables in the ‘Maharashtra Derby’, especially after a rampant 4-1 away win against ATK.

Pune’s head coach Ranko Popovic, while speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, seemed delighted with his team’s dominating display against the defending champions. “It was a great victory for us, especially after the first game. When you have a game at home, you don’t want to disappoint the people who are coming to support you, and this is exactly what we are doing. It was very nice for us to have one victory, especially in Kolkata. The first and most crucial thing is that we have three points. It’s also important for the mentality of the players. After losing the first game at home, it is an important step for us,” he said.

Another positive aspect that Pune have displayed this season is their flair for scoring goals. They have already scored six from two games and Popovic was glad about how his team was responding. “Yeah, we are scoring more goals now. We are trying to score in every game. We scored in every game in pre-season except for one and we will try to keep this level. With the players we have, we can do this game after game. But in football, you can never promise anything. We can only work hard daily for it to be done. Also, we have a very tight schedule; we have four games in 11 days.”

“This is a team sport. I am happy to have Marcelinho, (Emiliano) Alfaro and everyone else. The truth is that all these guys deserve to be seen in a positive aspect. Marcelinho and Alfaro will also have difficulty without the other guys. I would also like to talk about the performance of Baljit (Sahni) who was excellent and other players. You always focus on the players who scored the goals, but there are also other guys who are important, and I don’t want to forget them,” Popovic added.

When asked how he evaluates Mumbai City FC as an opponent and his thoughts on the ‘Maha Derby’, Popovic shared: “It will be a different emotion, different feeling. There will be more passion; you want to be better than everyone in this region and this area. But for us three points are important. We are here to reach something and for that, we have to try to play well. What matters is we have to show our best performance day to day and give our best when the moment is necessary.”