‘We will try to avoid the mistakes that we made against them…’ - Kerala Blasters FC's Ishfaq Ahmed

On 26 December 2022, Kerala Blasters FC are going to take on Odisha FC in the ongoing Indian Super League at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Currently, Kerala Blasters are sitting in the fifth position with 19 points from 10 matches. While Odisha are also sitting in the sixth position with the same points from the same number of games.

So, this match will be a vital one for both these teams in order to strengthen their chances to break into the top four positions. Now, regarding this match only, Kerala Blasters FC’s assistant head coach Ishfaq Ahmed expressed that it is going to be one of the most important matches of this season. 

“We'll go with a positive frame of mind.” - Ishfaq Ahmed, Kerala Blasters FC’s assistant head coach

Ishfaq Ahmed said: "I think it's a very important match, I'd say it's one of the important matches of the season as they (Odisha FC) have the same number of points as us and I think we have been playing good football, we've been playing with respect but it's our home match and with the support of home fans and home ground advantage we should achieve something positive in the match and we're pretty much confident."

Regarding their defeat against Chennaiyin FC in the last match, Ishfaq said: "It's the past. I think we dominated them. They started well first and then after we scored the goal, we got good half chances. But in away matches, it won't be easy for many teams to play against Chennaiyin FC. They had mixed results but they are a good team. Sometimes, in away matches, one point is not a bad result. The most important part of this campaign is for us that we haven't lost in the last six matches and hopefully, we continue this streak and move on further ahead in the table."

In the reverse fixture against the same opponent, they failed to win three points. Therefore, regarding that, Ishfaq Ahmed said: "After that, we fixed a lot of things. We also changed our approach to games. That's how we got these results. On the physical part, we've improved a lot. We've got wins against teams who had bigger players, who rely on set pieces such as Jamshedpur FC. We've improved a lot since then and I think we're ready for the challenge. We'll go with a positive frame of mind. We can't wait for the match."