Defending champions ATK travel to the abode of Hero Indian Super League 2017-18 debutants Jamshedpur FC, in search of their first win of the season at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Friday. Teddy Sheringham’s men will be looking to get over the disappointment of the 4-1 loss, FC Pune City inflicted on them in their previous match and get their title defence on track.

In the pre-match press conference, ATK’s head coach Sheringham however, did not want their previous loss to weigh heavily on the upcoming fixture. He said, “All games are crucial. Losing 4-1 last week was very, very disappointing, but you have to brush that off and get ready for the next game. I know it’s going to be as difficult as the last game, but we’re prepared for it, so we’re looking forward to the game.”

On being asked how his strategy and tactics were going to be different from the previous games, he shared, “(We need to) stop the counter-attacks. It’s something that we’ve looked at closely. Very disappointing to lose by four goals in the last game. We want to dictate the play obviously but we know that goals make a lot of difference in football matches. We’re looking to improve on that front.”

Friday will be a historic night for Jamshedpur as they get their first taste of Hero ISL football, and speaking on that very topic, Sheringham said, “We’ve not seen a lot of the city. The training ground is good, maybe a little hot out there. I’ve heard Steve Coppell say the same thing. I’m looking forward to playing in the stadium. A big fixture for them and a big fixture for us as well.”

As far as injury concerns go, ATK have already had a flurry of injuries to some of their main players ahead of the season. “At the moment, we’ve got a few injuries. Robbie Keane, Carl Baker, Jayesh Rane are still out. Anwar Ali is just back in training and Ashutosh (Mehta) is just starting to train as well. The main one is Robbie Keane, but he should be back soon,” he informed.

Sheringham also lauded the contribution of Jamshedpur’s famed Tata Football Academy to the future of Indian football, having two alumni in Robin Singh and Hitesh Sharma in his team. “If you want the game to grow in India, you have to have these academies to teach the boys at a young age. You can’t expect them to start at 16 and play well when they’re 19, 20 or 21. Around the world, you will see players starting from a young age. I think 9, 10, 11 is the right age to be picked up and taught to play football the right way. It has worked well with English football. I see the England U-17s, U-19s, U-21s doing very well and it’s the effort of the last 10-12 years. If you teach them early they can get better,” he concluded.