FC Goa travel to the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune to take on FC Pune City in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 on Sunday. The Gaurs are winless in their last five matches, picking up only two points from a possible 15. That form has seen them sink to a lowly seventh in the league standings, meaning Goa now need maximum points from their remaining three fixtures to guarantee a playoff spot.

Speaking to the media during the pre-match press conference was the Gaurs’ head coach Sergio Lobera, and while admitting it had not been easy going in February, he still was optimistic about the future. “It’s true that we haven’t been having a good past few games, and we only managed to get two points from them,” he stated. “But if you look at the past, you also have to take into account that we actually did well before the five games that we just talked about, and we depend upon ourselves in the upcoming three games.”

He further went on to add, “What we look at now is the future, and the future begins tomorrow. Tomorrow we have an important game, and when it is over, we want to be in complete control of our own fate.”

Goa are the only team to have not kept a clean sheet all season, but the Spaniard pointed out that consequently his team had scored in abundance. “It’s true that we have conceded a lot of goals, but it’s also true that we have scored a lot of goals,” Lobera remarked. “I think we are one of the better teams in the league in terms of goal difference, but it is true that we can improve in the defensive aspect.”

However, defence still doesn’t seem to be Lobera’s main concern, “But taking into account the last few games, what worries me more is the fact that we haven’t been able to score goals rather than the fact that we have been conceding goals,” he said.

The 41-year-old also specified where his team’s problems lie. “I think with regards to the goals we conceded, it was more to do with our mistakes rather than what the other team did,” Lobera inferred. “In the last few games, we had a lot of chances on goal, so yes, we are creating many opportunities. What we don’t have is the definition and the ability to finish like we were finishing before.”