THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Kerala Blasters FC player and assistant coach Ishfaq Ahmed has said that the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned team are hoping to go one step better this year and claim the ISL title that they were agonisingly close to winning in the maiden ISL last year.
“We have a good team that can do better this time around,” said the India international, who attended the club’s first pre-season training session at Greenfield International Stadium, Kariavattom here, on Friday morning ahead of the second season of Indian Super League (ISL).
The team under the guidance of former England under-20 national team manager Peter Taylor and assistant coach Trevor Morgan began their preparation for the new season at the stadium on Friday with just 29 days to go for the ISL’s second coming.
Ishfaq was among those who underwent that session along with international players like former Crystal Palace defender Peter Ramage, former West Ham United goalkeeper Stephen Bywater, former Sheffield United left back Marcus Williams and striker Chris Dagnall and domestic players like Ramandeep Singh, Manandeep Singh and Peter Carvalho.
And the player-coach is of the opinion that a late start to preparations will not affect the team’s performance during the season. “I do not think that will be much of a problem because most of the players have been playing - be it with the Indian national football team or in the Calcutta Football League with their respective clubs,” said Ishfaq, who is on his first coaching assignment.
“I think the Indian players know each other very well and also their games. We will start with some light training in the beginning and move forward to build up our fitness in the following days,” the Blasters assistant coach said, adding that the team will also play a couple of matches at the state capital before flying out to Goa for more match exposure.
“Most probably, we will play a couple of matches against local sides in Kerala before travelling to Goa,” he said. The rest of the members of the Blasters team, including Spanish marquee player and World Cup winner Carlos Marchena, are to arrive in the state capital in the coming days to link up with their new teammates.
Blasters will open their campaign in the ISL against North East United FC on October 6 at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi, before playing Mumbai City FC on October 10 at the same venue.
