NorthEast United FC may have won back-to-back Hero ISL 2016 games against Kerala Blasters FC and the mighty FC Goa but head coach Nelo Vingada is not complacent ahead of his team’s third match this season, against Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday. Vingada said he was expecting the Mumbai game to be their toughest challenge yet.

“Tomorrow for us will be a tough game and a hard game as Mumbai is a strong team. For them it’s the second game, while for us it’s the third one and to play three games in six days is not easy at all in any league around the world.

“But I hope our motivation and quality can make a difference and we will try to stop our opposition. Tomorrow’s game will be our most difficult game and I hope it will be a great game. It can also be great promotion for the Indian Super League. Three results can happen tomorrow, we want to give our best and make life hard for Mumbai,” Vingada told reporters on Thursday.

Vingada also put his team’s first two wins into perspective. “You know the first game in any league is a not a real game for both the teams. It is just presentation. The players are not so good [in their first game]…The first game was not a great game for both teams, maybe the best thing was the result. The second game was better, much better. The second game was very good, you could compare it to any league in Asia,” he said.

When asked how his team was going to deal with the attacking threat of Diego Forlan and Matias Defederico – both of whom were involved in Mumbai’s winning goal against FC Pune City earlier this week, Vingada said: “You know I cannot predict but in the game when we have the ball we’ve got to attack and when Mumbai have the ball we’ve got to defend. Of course, I tell my players to defend well but that does not mean I am telling them to only keep on defending the goal because sometimes defending well means pressing forward, to recover the ball and catch the ball.”

“Especially in the second game against Goa we showed very good organisation and prevented their chances. We will try to defend well but our team is very good when we have the ball.”