NorthEast United FC have had their best ever start to a Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) campaign since its inception. The Highlanders started the season with a draw against FC Goa at home and then went on to clinch back-to-back victories on the road, first against two-time champions ATK and then against defending champions Chennaiyin FC. NorthEast will look to maintain the momentum when they lock horns against Jamshedpur FC at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday.

A day prior to the fixture, NorthEast head coach Eelco Schattorie was present at the pre-match press conference to take questions from the media. Schattorie hinted that he may go with the same squad which won against Chennaiyin FC and said, “The difficult thing for the coach is, if you have three games in a row with a certain result, whether you should make changes or not. I don’t like to make changes because I look for stability. We are going to play at home and there are higher expectations.”

The Dutchman shed some light on the positive mood in the NorthEast camp after their dream start and said, “The mood is good, of course. The logic is if you win today, you are a hero, tomorrow zero. That’s how it goes in football. So, as long as it lasts you have to enjoy that.”

Schattorie also predicted a tough game for his side against Jamshedpur. “I think it’s going to be a 50-50 game. I think Jamshedpur is also a team that likes to play football that is more difficult to organise against. I think teams like ATK or even Chennaiyin are more physical and play more direct, so it’s easier to be more compact. Their team (Jamshedpur) is almost similar to ours, so it could be a very open game. It’s difficult to predict.”

Despite their stellar form in front of goal, NorthEast have conceded five in the three matches so far. Commenting on the less-than-ideal defensive record, Schattorie said, “I like to be very organised and keep the team compact. That works pretty well. All the goals (we conceded) are from individual mistakes and we have to work on that. As long as we score one more than the opponent team, I don’t care to be honest.”