The Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 will resume after the brief international break with FC Pune City playing host to Jamshedpur FC. The Stallions have had a terrible start to the season and are rooted to the bottom of the table with just two points from seven matches. Pune will look to start afresh and get their season up and running with a win against Jamshedpur.

At the pre-match press conference, Pune's interim coach Pradyum Reddy singled out the defence as his main area of concern and said, "If you look at the last four games, we’ve scored five goals. Normally, if you score five goals in four games, that should be enough to win you a couple of games or draw a couple of games. In those four games, we’ve had two missed penalties as well. So, that could actually have been seven goals in four games. If you score seven in four games, you should pick up more than the one point that we’ve picked up. The biggest concern should be the goals that we’ve conceded in games. That’s what cost us the points and (is responsible) for the situation that we are in at the moment."

Reddy agreed with the perception that his team is more than good enough on paper and suggested that they could have been in a better position in the table if luck was on their side. "Its pretty much a very similar team to what we had last season. But unfortunately, football is not won on paper, it is won on grass. And if you look, there are a lot of teams in similar situations. Chennaiyin, who have retained a large core of their team, are in a similar position. In football, sometimes when you don’t get one win, you don’t get the luck in some games or you don’t take your opportunities, the other team can capitalize on them. It has an effect where the negativity creeps in. Us and Delhi Dynamos FC are in a similar situation. We’re looking for a first win and once you get past that, you can probably look to pick up more wins and more points," he said.

Reddy also confirmed that his team is injury-free going into the match and said, "For the first time this season, since I’ve been here, we have 25 players to pick from. So, everyone is available for the selection. I am looking forward to it."

Reddy concluded the press conference by expressing his delight over Iain Hume's return to the squad. "Iain will be a welcome addition to the team both in the dressing room and out there on the field. He has been raring to go and we look forward to see him on the field," he said.