After losing to FC Goa in dramatic fashion, Chennaiyin FC will hope to bounce back in their first match of the new year against Odisha FC on Monday.
Chennaiyin coach Owen Coyle remained cautious ahead of facing Odisha at their home ground and is expecting an exciting clash.
“We are looking forward to the game. We are playing against a very good side with a terrific coach. They have talented players, particularly in the forward areas. So we are very respectful of our opponents. But I feel we also have an equally talented squad, playing good football.
“Odisha will be a tough game. Two very attack-minded teams are playing so it will be an entertaining match. We are coming here to get three points. It will be tough but we can do it.”
The Scottish coach suggested that they don’t treat the home and away games differently and also mentioned that they cannot be in awe of their opposition.
“Whether we are playing at home or away we treat matches in the same manner. If we don’t do that it takes away our strengths. We have great respect for Odisha but if we change our philosophy it will be detrimental.
“We have some great goal scorers. We were the lowest-scoring team initially but when I came in suddenly we scored seven goals in three matches. We have to be positive against Odisha. We can’t stand back and admire them because if we do that, with the quality Odisha has, they will punish us.”
When asked about his experience with Chennaiyin so far, the former Wigan Athletic manager said, “Ideally you would want to have a pre-season with the team. I have an inherited squad so I have to evaluate them. But I have some great players. We have already shown we can cause the opposition problems. But we have to improve.
“We have conceded four goals against Goa and all were from individual errors. We have to eradicate the individual errors. But it is a collective effort. In the second half of the season, we will get stronger. We have some big challenges in front of us.”
