Jamshedpur have had a decent start in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 with nine points from six games. They head into their clash against Chennaiyin FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Thursday after a win against Bengaluru FC in their previous outing. Even though they have nine points so far, their head coach Steve Coppell admitted that scoring goals is something his side needs to improve on.

“I agree that goal conversion is a big issue for us. It’s obvious looking at the number of games we have had, the goals we scored. But it is not because of lack of trying. As always, we are working very hard, training on the field to try and score more goals. But at the same time, we have not conceded many. So, there is no one way of being successful in football. Thankfully there are many other ways. Maybe our way is not the same as everybody else’s, but we’re doing ok,” he told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

The Englishman had mixed news for Jamshedpur fans on the injury front. “Mehtab (Hossain) is fit, Anas (Edathodika) is not fit. Anas has been away getting some treatment on his feet and he is expected today. I think he is returning sometime today. So hopefully then we can incorporate him into team training and then we will quickly draft him back into the squad,” Coppell said.

He continued: “I don’t know if he (Anas) will play on January 5 (against Mumbai City FC) because we have not seen him for three weeks. We sent him to one place where he could get concentrated treatment. So, he’s had that treatment. He is now pain free. The question is not about his fitness. The question is how much fitness has he lost in the last three weeks. He is a fit man, obviously. So hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later. If not on the fifth, then certainly the game after that against Goa."

When asked for his thoughts on current table-toppers Chennai ahead of their first encounter this season, Coppell said: “After seven games, Chennai are top of the table. So, they are as such the best team after seven games. They have lost a couple of matches. The first one I think they could have easily got something from that game. Goa were excellent in the first 45 minutes but then Chennai came back into it. They also lost to Mumbai which was a very dubious penalty if I remember correctly. So, they are not top of the table by accident. They are top of the table because they are a good team and have some good individual players. So, it’s a great challenge for us but as always, it’s also a challenge we are looking forward to. So, we’ll welcome them, but we want to make the welcome a little bit warm when we kick off tomorrow evening."

The 62-year-old spoke about his delight at the improvement of their home pitch. “The pitch condition is improving. The first game it was obviously terrible. The second game it was slightly better. Just walking on the pitch now, there seems to be a lot more growth. There are new areas of growth. There are still patchy areas. They are making new replacements. But I am certain it will be a better, firmer surface than the last two games,” Coppell said.