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High-flying ATK keen to score more
Kolkata, October 28: ATK are flying high ahead of their clash against Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
The former champions kickstarted the season on a wrong note but made up for it with a 5-0 hammering of Hyderabad FC at home in their last game. Not only did ATK’s attack come good against the visitors, the overall performance was also exemplary as they controlled proceedings throughout the 90 minutes.
The mood in the camp is good and they will be confident of getting a positive result from their travel to the South.
“It was important to get the three points in the last match. For us, what was more important was the performance of the team. I am happy with the performance of the team,” said head coach Antonio Habas.
Their opponents, Chennaiyin FC, have not had the best of starts. They have just one point to show from two games and are yet to score a goal. However, Habas is not expecting an easy game in Chennai.
“Chennaiyin did not score in the first two matches but they can score in the next match. Statistics is not important. The important thing is the performance in the 90 minutes. No match is easy and we have to go to Chennai with that kind of mentality,” said the Spaniard.
Hearteningly for Habas, his team does not seem to have any issues in putting away their chances. Though they were guilty of spurning a few chances against Kerala Blasters in the season opener, the likes of Roy Krishna, David Williams and Edu Garcia, ably supported by Michael Soosairaj and Prabir Das, were clinical against Hyderabad. ATK can count on their forwards to trouble a shaky Chennaiyin defence on Wednesday.
“Maybe one day you get many chances but cannot score the goals and another day you get one chance and you score the goal. We are working every day on our finishing and for me, it is not a problem. The team until now has created many opportunities and that is very important,” said Habas.
The 62-year-old coach is also happy with his team’s fitness and preparation. Key defender John Johnson is also back in contention for a place in the matchday squad and the two-time champions do not have any major injury concern.
“Physically we are maybe at 75% or 80% and we don’t have injuries because the pre-season we had was at a fantastic level and the players are putting great efforts to achieve their objectives.”
