NorthEast United FC head coach Vincenzo Annese stated that the team will give their best as the Highlanders host Jamshedpur FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati on Saturday.

It's a clash at the bottom of the table with both teams looking to go into the last stretch of games on a high. NorthEast United FC are looking for their second win of the season, while Jamshedpur FC would look to get their third win of the campaign.

The reverse fixture saw the Red Miners secure the three points with the solitary goal in the match. Annese talked about the great motivation the team has to close down the gap between them and Jamshedpur FC and the team needs this result for everyone related to the club.

"First of all, we play against a team that is above us in the points table. We need to stimulate ourselves to reach close to them, this is great motivation for us and second, we are playing at home. The last home games have been good for us, we lost against Bengaluru FC in the last minute, a good draw against FC Goa and then we won against ATK Mohun Bagan. We need this result for everyone related to the club, the fans and the staff," Annese said in the official post-match conference.

Both teams are coming into the fixture with two consecutive defeats in the previous games. NorthEast United FC failed to score in the last two games and Annese expressed his desire to change those statistics in the fixture against the Red Miners and hoped to score goals against Aidy Boothroyd's team.

"They (Jamshedpur FC) had a good performance against Mumbai City FC, they didn't deserve to lose that match. They created many chances in attack, they have a problem in the defensive phase that they are conceding goals. We will try to give our best, it depends on everyone on how they've trained throughout the week. It's been a month since I've been here, I hope the guys understand more and more. We were not able to score goals against Kerala Blasters FC and Mumbai City FC, so we hope to score on Saturday," Annese said.

The Highlanders have missed their skipper Wilmar Gil, the Colombian has missed the action due to suspension. Gil is the leading goal scorer for Annese's men with five goals in nine matches. NorthEast United FC head coach stated that the team is missing the leader but in this situation, they need to win as a team.

"For sure we're missing our leader, he's a great player but we hope to have a good performance on Saturday. We cannot depend on one player, he's a big loss for us but we need to try to win as a team in this situation," Annese said.

The Highlanders remain at the bottom of the Hero ISL points table with four points in 16 matches. This season NorthEast United FC have scored the fewest goals (13) and conceded the most goals (43) in 16 matches so far. Annese explained that the more time they spend with the players the better it'll be and things will turn around with time as the process is still ongoing.

"The more time the players spend together, the better it'll be for them to understand what I want from them. The team is playing attacking football and the mentality has changed since I've come in. Step by step we'll try to understand and I think NorthEast United FC will only improve this way. It's important we keep the same players, I don't believe in making a lot of changes. I believe if we keep the same players and the same strategy, it'll be a great performance next year. Football is about the process, I believe we have good players and I'm happy for them. I know the results are not coming but in football, you need to understand that the process is more important than the results," Anesse concluded.

 

Mohammad Irshad was present at the pre-match conference and expressed that everyone is giving their best in the matches and the team wants to bring in maximum points to end the league positively.

"It's a really difficult situation now, we are trying to give our best in all the matches. Unfortunately, we are not getting the results but we are still fighting, we have four more matches and we will try to bring maximum points and end the league in a good manner,'' the midfielder said.