Jamshedpur FC head coach Aidy Boothroyd believes that the team has settled in and the players are startint to gel well together. All that’s needed is to be clinical enough in the crucial moments. Boothroyd’s team would be looking to avoid a third consecutive defeat as The Red Miners travel to Chennai to be welcomed by the hosts, Chennayin FC in a Hero Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.

With his team languishing near the bottom half of the table, head coach Aidy Boothroyd has urged his players to pick up the consistency shown by the team at the top end of the table in order to bridge the gap and challenge for the playoff spot.

Boothroyd was accompanied by the Brazilian midfielder Wellington Priori in the press conference. 

Here are the excerpts from Boothroyd’s press conference:  

After two consecutive defeats, how are you preparing for the next match? 

Boothroyd: We just want to get back to playing the game. I think when things are going well for you, you get the bounce of the ball and the one that goes in off of the post. But I've got to say, there's not a lot of wrongs really. I'm quite pleased with so many aspects where the players have settled in, the way they gel together, or whether they've worked, all very positive which is that a couple of results, you know, could have turned either way. And we want to be much further up the table and everybody would be happy. This is what football is, it’s ups and downs. We just got to make sure now we have a few injuries but with those injuries, it gives other people an opportunity to play and show what they're all about. So we'll see. We'll see some really cool performances and a good results on Saturday. 

What are your thoughts about Chennaiyin FC? The team conceded six goals against Mumbai City FC and is coming into this game to prove a point. What are your plans and how do you believe your team can adapt? 

Boothroyd: Well, I think Thomas's team is a good team and got a few more points than us at the moment. I like the way they play. I think anybody can have a really good result, I think sometimes you can do well and you look at the scoreboard and it's 6-2 so it’s not really helpful. Mumbai City FC as we know is a good team. Oh yeah, on another day, you know, we hit the post in the last minute we could have beat them so that's how open I think the league is. I think Chennaiyin FC is a good team, with a good coach, and I expect it to be very difficult.  

The team has been very good in some phases of the match, so do you think the team needs to perform like that for 90 minutes rather than for some phases of the game? 

Boothroyd: I think we’ve been really good in possession some of the time and not so good at other times. We've been very good at positioning ourselves out of possession some of the time. In transitions, in set pieces all those things are in separate games but never as a whole, so we know we can do it but it's a matter of actually doing it now and not just talking about it. So, it is good that you recognise that we're doing some really good things. And I think if you can do that, then what happens if you focus on that performance and good results should come.

The teams have changed a lot this season as compared to the last one. So do you think it creates added pressure as you are playing in front of the fans for the first time after a gap of two years? 

Boothroyd: I think winning the League Winners' Shield in a bubble will be different from winning the shield in the league because of the traveling. The one last thing about us being at home really isn't an added pressure. It's more of a bonus to us because the fans have been very supportive from day one. Getting back to playing games in different arenas, against our opponents and their fans, I think it’s a part of the excitement. I think where we're at right now, we're work in progress. We're getting better all the time. What we need and what we need to work on like the ones that are at the top is to be more consistent than we have been individually and collectively as a group and when we do that I think we will be a really good team.

What is the update on the injury list? Would they be able to make it to the next game?  

Boothroyd: So Germanpreet Singh is out, Eli Sabai is out, Laldinpuia (PC Laldinpuia), Laldinliana (Laldinliana Renthelei) is out. So five recognized defenders. You'll never hear me complaining, we're all the same. We all have injuries. The idea is to keep as many fit as possible and available so it makes tomorrow's game even more difficult game than it was but what it also means is it gives other players an opportunity to share what they're all about and we'll be looking to the older players in the team, more experienced ones to rally and continue to lead and to get us through into happier days where we are scoring goals, performing well and winning matches.

Here are the excerpts from Priori’s conference:

In the last few games, you have been the player with the most number of touches as a Midfielder but somehow along the way the goals are not coming. So what do you think is the solution?

Priori: I think for us it’s not the time to start talking, we need to go out there and start doing things. We need to find a solution and the solution is to win games. We will try to do that Saturday night and hopefully, we will be able to do that.

How do you think you can turn around this run of form as players and how the conversations have been in the dressing room?  

Priori: For me, we have a very good team and we have shown that in training and the matches. I believe we have to learn to play more like a unit rather than individuals. So when we realize that, I’m sure we will be very difficult to beat.