NEW DELHI: High-flying ATK Mohun Bagan take on struggling Jamshedpur FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Monday looking to keep their winning run intact while opposition manager Owen Coyle is hoping to steady the ship.
Antonio Habas' team is currently in second place, with three wins out of three. What is even more impressive is the fact that they're yet to concede this season and have faced the least number of shots on target (4) so far. However, in their last game against Odisha FC, it took them till added time to find the winner so the Spaniard knows there are things to work on.
"It's important to start the competition with three clean sheets. The team acquired confidence, progressed and improved as this is the best way forward. The secret is more tactical discipline and effort. I think we have to improve in the central midfield department because the idea and concept of our team are that everybody defends and everybody attacks. We need more creativity in the centre," Habas said.
Both teams are heavily reliant on their strikers Roy Krishna and Nerijus Valskis. Both have scored three goals in as many games and it again seems both will be fighting it out for the Golden Boot.
Valskis' goals haven't translated into the team winning a match this term, with the Red Miners drawing two and losing one. But Coyle is confident in his team's ability to turn this situation around and also believes that they have been unlucky a couple of times.
"What we want to do is turn our draws into wins because obviously, that moves you up the table. I think when you look at our games, we could have easily had five, six, seven points. Against Odisha, we were two-nothing up. There are certainly points there that we dropped (2-2 draw). In the Hyderabad game, we were very strong in the second half. We scored a goal but it was disallowed and we kept going because of the spirit of the team. I think it's the consistency to put the whole performance together. There are certain areas we need to work on. We have to make sure that we are solidified and not give those chances that lead to goals against us."