PRE-MATCH QUIPS- Habas: Top four the target; Zambrotta says it will be difficult to beat Pune

 GAME AND EVERY POINT is crucial for Pune as they suffered a from loss after decent run of good form. Habas says one slip in the closing stages of the league can cost dearly. On that note, the FCPC Coach at the pre match conference said,

"Tomorrow, winning the match is important. You know this league is very tough. Six-seven teams are in the same position as us. Tomorrow it is very important and we are ready to get the three points"

Delhi have won four and drawn one from the last five games and top the table on points. Zambrotta, at the pre match conference, says complacency should not get into the players and further shared,

"At the moment we are in a good position but we are a long way away from reaching the semi-finals. There are still four matches to go. I like to take one game at a time. So, for this reason we are only focusing on the FC Pune City game right now"

Being the last home game of the league phase for the Stallions, they will be travelling for the next three away games. To this Habas commented,

"All the teams are playing to get to the top 4, so for us to play away is not very fair but that’s ok. We have won more matches away, so let’s see. But we have quite a bit of travel to deal with.”

Delhi had a hard fought draw with a man down for nearly an entire half against Atletico de Kolkata in the last game. Speaking about the last game, Zambrotta said,

"Our last match was against ATK. They are a very good team, for me one of the best of the ISL. You shouldn’t forget we played that game one man down for 50 minutes and it’s a long time. I am very proud of Delhi Dynamos and all my players. In that game we went down a goal and came back to make it 1-1 and then were down 2-1 and again we came back to make it 2-2 at the end"

The DDFC Coach continued,

"That shows us how powerful Delhi Dynamos are. For us, it was very important to get a point against ATK. It also showed we are mentally strong and that we have the right character and we will not give up easily. This is a very big positive for me as a coach."

Habas, aware of the threat that awaits them against Delhi but says Pune will be giving a tough time to Delhi to get the win out of them. He continued saying,

"Delhi have been the best team in the league so far. They have been the most consistent team and they play well. They deserve to be top of the table. For the moment, Delhi are very close to qualifying for the semi-final spot. But tomorrow we are looking to get the three points and start our journey to the top 4. We want to be in the top 4 as soon as possible"

Zambrotta is not taking Pune lightly as they have grabbed wins out of ATK and Mumbai. Commenting further on that said,

"They are a very good team. They have beaten tough teams like Mumbai and ATK and I respect them. So it’s not like they cannot win. They will be difficult to beat because they are playing well. They are a defensively very good unit and they have good quality players. So, we think Pune is a good team and it will be a difficult match tomorrow"

The major worry for Pune has been the inability to score goals. Speaking on that lack of goal scoring aspect, Coach Habas said, 

“We are working very hard to try and do well in every department. But at the moment it’s difficult. All teams right now are having a similar problem. But in absolute honesty, right now our players aren’t scoring enough goals. I would like for my team to score three, four, five everyday but we don’t have those kind of players. The coach never says don’t score goals, the coach always says please try and score goals.”

Grateful to the team fans who back them all the time, Habas shared,

"We want to see you later in the semi-finals. Tomorrow, we want to play a good match. We want to say thank you to the fans and we hope tomorrow we have a good game"

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