Hyderabad FC's Nikhil Poojary: We have to meet the expectations of Albert Roca

India international winger Nikhil Poojary is looking forward to Hyderabad's upcoming Indian Super League (ISL) season with Albert Roca as the head coach.

The club had a horrendous debut season in the ISL, finishing at the bottom of the table with 10 points.

In a live Instagram chat on Friday, the winger said. "We had a good pre-season but the first game was a bubble buster for us. I think it was one of those seasons where everything went wrong for us."

ISL

Brown was sacked midway through the season and former Saudi Arabia assistant Albert Roca was brought on board as the Englishman's replacement. Caretaker coaches Mehrajuddin Wadoo and Xavier Gurri saw out the rest of the season and Hyderabad signed out with a 5-1 win over NorthEast United but failed to avoid a bottom-placed finish.

With Roca set to take over the first team from the upcoming season, Poojary feels that the onus will be on the players to meet the expectations of the former Bengaluru head coach. 

"We all know what kind of impact Roca had on BFC (Bengaluru FC). The way the team (Bengaluru) played that season (2017-18 ISL runners-up) was surreal. They finished way above (at least eight points) everyone else [in the league phase] and we know where he was. He was (assistant coach) with (Frank) Rijkaard in Barcelona and he has trained some top players like Deco.

"So I think we have to meet his expectations to do well. For him to have the same impact he had at Bengaluru, we have to meet his expectations. Otherwise, it won't match. I am excited to play for him and learn whatever I can," Poojary concluded.