Without revealing his cards, a philosophical FC Goa head coach Zico held forth on his team’s resurgence and expressed confidence in their ability to seal a top four finish in their 13th round clash against Chennaiyin FC on Friday.Holding forth at the pre-match press conference on Goa’s journey from the bottom of the league to second spot, Zico said, “It is true that we are continuously working and we believe in our work and that is one of the reasons for the upswing in our form.”The Brazilian legend however remained non-committal on whether marquee player Robert Pirès would find a place in the starting line-up for tomorrow’s game, given the fact that the Arsenal legend has missed the last three games. “I am not giving my line-up but we have 23 players fit and available to play tomorrow,” Zico said while skirting a question on the subject.The highly experienced gaffer credited his strikers for the upswing in Goa’s fortunes and their unbeaten run in the last six games. “I think the strikers are always well positioned and they have never stopped believing in themselves and have kept trying; now they are scoring,” he explained. He went on to add, “We didn’t have an easy time with any other team and we are here playing against Chennai and our next game is in Kolkata; so we will work hard to get the qualification for the top four.”Asked whether his move to play André Santos behind the striker is responsible for the team’s winning run, Zico said that they are practising every day and a player must give off his best in the position that he is put in. “Football is a result of training and hard work done during the week,” he quipped.In reply to a question about his team’s prospects against the league leaders who had beaten the Goans 1-2 in the first leg, Zico said, “The team has changed a lot. It (the defeat) was the first game, I didn’t know many players, now I know; the same is applicable to Chennayin FC, so we’ll see how it pans out but I am confident of winning the game.”Portuguese midfielder-defender Bruno Pinheiro, who was at the press conference, said that the recent run of clean sheets in the last three games has boosted the morale in the camp, “I think that the clean sheet is an effort of the entire team. It starts with the striker and finishes with the goalkeeper. It is very important and raises our confidence and we always try to not concede a goal. It is good for us,” Pinheiro said.
