A rejuvenated FC Pune City will host high-flyers NorthEast United FC at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium on Tuesday. The Stallions picked up their first victory of the campaign last week against Jamshedpur FC and will be brimming with confidence when they entertain the Highlanders. Another victory for Pune will take them above Kerala Blasters FC to the seventh place in the table and will give them some breathing space over the likes of Chennaiyin FC and Delhi Dynamos FC.

At the pre-match conference on Monday, Pune's interim coach Pradyum Reddy spoke to the reporters about his side’s preparations for the encounter. He started off by talking about the confidence-boosting victory over Jamshedpur and the kind of effect it had on the side. "I think it is something we could see last week even before the victory. We got a sustained period to work with the players. You could see the players were raring to go after a good 10 days of training. You could see that against Jamshedpur and hopefully we can build on that," he said.

Looking at NorthEast’s form in front of goal, one would expect Pune to shut up shop and defend in numbers. However, Reddy remained adamant that his side will play to their strength and employ an attacking style. "We have tried it in a couple of games, where we went in with a more conservative approach, and it did not work. With the attacking arsenal we have in our squad, I think it is best for us to have an attacking mindset. We need points on the table. We cannot afford to pick up just a draw here and there. A win could really propel us and put us in a much better position," he stated.

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