SC East Bengal interim coach Renedy Singh stated that he is happy with the recent progress his side has made and wants the players to put up a strong fight against Bengaluru FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) encounter at Athletic Stadium, Bambolim on Tuesday.

After SC East Bengal parted ways with Jose Manuel Diaz, Singh took charge as the interim coach. Mario Rivera will take over as the head coach once he completes the quarantine and the match against Bengaluru FC will come too soon for that.

Ahead of SC East Bengal’s clash against Bengaluru FC, interim coach Renedy Singh addressed the media during the official pre-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from Renedy’s press conference.

What are the new changes will be looking forward to in the new year?

We just have to keep going. When we played against Hyderabad FC, I think it was a good match. As I'll be there in charge for the next 3-4 matches, I have got time to work with the boys and the boys, they have worked hard and I'm really happy with that. They just have to continue and put that fight in match against Bengaluru FC. So if they can work, what we have been working on for the last 5-6 days, I think we should be able to get good results.

How are you preparing for the job at hand?

I think it's a difficult one at the place where we are in our East Bengal team (11th in the league table). No one wants to be in this place. It's a difficult challenge. But for me, I take this challenge as a good challenge. This is a good time for us to show that we can do better. And I'm sure if we keep working hard and if we fight till the end, I'm sure we'll do better.

As a player, you have gone through lots of ups and downs, keeping that in mind can you relate an SC Bengal’s current situation to any phase of your playing career where you and your team went through a similar crisis but eventually managed to turn things around?

In my 19-year career, I have seen a lot of ups and downs and for a player it's normal. But like I said, no one wants to be in this position and for that each and every member of the team, support staff and the players are working really hard to come out of this and in life, we cannot run away from here, we have to fight, fight and fight.

We just have to work really hard and we have to maintain our structure and shape and I'm sure like I said, we will be able to see a better result if we do work hard as a team, not individually, but as a team.

How difficult is it to boost the morale of the side? Would you look to restructure the side first or focus more on getting the wins?

It's not easy at all. It's not easy at all when the player’s morale is down. But then in the last six days I think I'm really happy with the boys the way they worked. I think that they have shown that in every training and no complaints about that.

All I want is that the players put all the hard work in tomorrow's game and if they all work together we will be able to see a good result and in one day I'm not going to change everything. It takes time but all we have to do is we have to stay together. We have to fight as a team.

After taking charge as the interim head coach. What are the changes you have looked at to make in regards to the information and the strategy?

The worst match that we have played, I think it was against NorthEast United. I didn't like the structure at all. Players, we could see that they have given up. So I don't want to see that again. But after that match against Hyderabad, I repeat. That was a good complete team fight and we have to continue the same. So in the last six days, it's not many days, but in the last six days, what I was trying to do with the place was to have the better structure safe while taking and safe while defending and there is no gap in the middle and if you can continue doing that. Yes, let's see in tomorrow's match. If the player can put that fight into the game.