Punjab FC head coach Staikos Vergetis urged his players to work hard and concentrate on their offensive movements as his team face Chennaiyin FC in the opening match of Matchweek 11 in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.

Chennaiyin FC are unbeaten in their last four matches, currently in the sixth spot with 12 points. The Marina Machans displayed their sheer dominance over the Shers with a convincing 5-1 victory in their last meeting on October. Though Punjab FC have yet to win their first ISL match, they will be eyeing revenge at their home turf.

Vergetis shared that the players have to go several times through these phases where the team fails to score a goal in consecutive matches. He acknowledged that they have been working hard in training to amplify players’ intensity and make every player ready for the match.

“This is one situation that can happen in football many times,” Vergetis stated in the pre-match press conference.

“In the previous year, several times we had this situation, but the professional players have to adapt to the schedule. The coaches also had to fix their (players’) intensity in the training to make the players ready to play again. This is our work, and we have to adapt to this,” he continued.

“We did the recuperation for the players (of the game); we prepared the players (who did not play so) to be ready if it's necessary to start (the game) or to come during the game, and we are well prepared for tomorrow's game,” he further added.

Vergetis commended his players' defensive performance but urged them to improve their final passing in offensive transitions.

Speaking in context, he said: “I think that game by game we have improved our defensive function; we are tougher and stronger in our defensive work on the field.”

“We suffered in our first (few) games with the transitions and the good quality of some opponent players, but in the last games, we faced them better defensively. We are not receiving offensive transitions from opponents (defensive for us) so much, but we (still) need to work on our offensive tasks,” he continued.

“Sometimes the decision (making in the final third) is not good. Sometimes the execution of the final pass or the finalization is not good enough to help our team score. We have to improve in this a lot,” he signed off.

We'll give everything in this match to win: Ashish Pradhan

 

Ashish Pradhan accompanied Vergetis in the press conference ahead of their next home game against Chennaiyin FC. Pradhan believes his team will give their best to get all three points against Chennaiyin FC.

“We are sticking to our coach’s plans,” he stated.

“We are just giving everything to get the three points. We'll give everything in this match, and let's hope for the best,” he continued.

“In our dressing room, we are very united. Even so, we are not getting that win. But still, the environment is very good. And as I said, we'll give everything in this match to win,” he concluded.

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Chennaiyin FCISLPunjab FC