Jamshedpur FC will need to continue their recent winning run in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 if they want to make the playoffs in their debut campaign. With four wins in their last five matches, Jamshedpur seem to be peaking at the right time and will be bracing themselves for a visit from NorthEast United FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Saturday.

Their head coach Steve Coppell is hoping for a win against the Highlanders, but he doesn’t believe that a failure to secure maximum points would put an end to their playoff hopes. “Well, we obviously, hope so (for a win)! Looking at the end of the season, we still have two home games, one away game and one half a home game (in Bhubaneswar). And I think, for a lot of the teams now, each and every game is vital. The three points seem to take on – even though they are only three points – it does seem to take on a lot of significance and we are fully aware of that. Tomorrow, it would be great to win. If we don’t win, it’s not the end of our ambitions for this season for sure, but it would certainly be nice to win,” he told the media at the pre-match press conference.

Coppell didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself when asked if he thought his side could maintain their current form that has seen them win four of their last five games. “I don’t foresee anything beyond tomorrow. I think if you start looking that far ahead, then you’re just wasting your time. I don’t even think about it and my mind doesn’t work that way. My mind works in little blocks... I have the philosophy, as I have shared before, of winning the next game. Can we win the next game? Yes,” the Englishman said.

He continued: “How do we go about winning the next game? And that’s how you plan and try to get everyone fit and focused. So, that’s certainly my way of doing things. Win the next game. If we win, great! If we don’t win, let us go into the next game which is against Chennaiyin. Even there my philosophy remains exactly the same. It’s just game-by-game block analysis. That’s all I am interested in. I believe we will end up where we deserve to end up and that will take care of itself. So, I don’t worry about it as it won’t help.”

On the injury front, Coppell added: “We have niggles. Nearly every other team at this moment of time will have ongoing niggles, which might present to be a problem. I think we’ll be 100% fit. We do have a couple of players who just have a slight problem which might affect their playing, but I don’t think so. I think we’ll be okay.”

The 62-year-old also explained why Sameehg Doutie and Sumeet Passi haven’t had as many minutes on the pitch as expected despite being fit. “I don’t want to disturb a winning combination. They are both fit. But at this point in time, I am not sure, if it’s possible to field Passi. Doutie may feature tomorrow on the bench or in the line-up, let’s see.”