Jamshedpur FC eye first win, square off against Northeast United FC at home on Sunday

The highlanders have lost all 3 matches they have played so far, head coach Balbul frustrated

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, Oct 29: Jamshedpur FC would like to put up an improved show and notch up their first win when they square off against Northeast United FC in an Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 season outing at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Sunday.

Having lost the opening match 2-3 versus Odisha FC and the tie against Mumbai City FC ending in a 1-1 draw, the Men of Steel are eyeing victory over Northeast United FC who are at the bottom of the table with zero points. The visitors have lost all their three matches of the cash-rich tournament

“We’ll approach the match with a positive frame of mind. Though we respect our opponents but the players are motivated and go for a win and notch up three points,” said Jamshedpur head coach Aidy Boothroyd at a pre-match conference on Saturday.

He added there’s no injury concerns as such and “we are prepared to take on Northeast United FC and win the match at our home venue,”Englishman Boothroyd added.

Boothroyd’s counterpart Marco Balbul said he was not satisfied with his team’s performance so far but try and put up a better show against Jamshedpur.

“We are frustrated and not satisfied with our team’s results. Zero points from three is not what we expected and we should be better on defense to avoid mistakes. We should be more efficient in attacking and converting the chances we create. We are focused on our team for this game,” he added.

The Highlanders were in a bit of a soup recently after one of their foreign signings, Sylvester Igboun, left the team citing poor facilities provided by the club as a reason for his departure. 

“I don’t want to talk about players who are not here and cannot help us. The player’s complaint about the condition is from a subjective point of view. But all the players feel completely different from him. The most important thing is to not focus on these things and keep our heads straight for the challenge ahead of us. We are really motivated and prepared for this game.””We have players who can handle this pressure,” the Israili manager said.

Jamshedpur FC’s home ground is known to be a difficult venue for the visiting teams. Underlining his team’s preparations to take on Aidy Boothroyd’s side in their backyard, the NorthEast United FC head coach said: “Jamshedpur has an excellent squad with a very good coach but in football there is pressure everywhere irrespective of where we play. We have players who can handle this pressure and be motivated by it.”

The Highlanders will miss Provat Lakra, who is yet to feature in an ISL game this season after being sidelined with a ligament injury.