ISL 2017-18: ATK interim coach Westwood still believes his side can make it to top four

ATK will take on Kerala Blasters tonight at YBK and will hope for some good-luck in their favour after having lost four matches in a row. Interim coach Ashley Westwood at the pre-match press conference stated that he still believes his side can make it to top four.

"We are still in with a fighting chance. If we win every game, we will finish with 27 points. That gives us a fighting chance and a little bit of hope."

Talking about the mood in the dressing room, he said,

"The lads are professional footballers and they need to play for their careers and for their contracts. So, if they don’t do the correct things, if they don’t show the endeavour and desire, they may find themselves out of ISL."

He spoke of the positives from their previous encounter despite the loss.

"In the last match, I thought, we completely dominated Bengaluru FC and they sit seven points clear at the top of the league. So, we don’t need any more positives than that. I’m sure there are not many teams that have dominated Bengaluru and pinned them back. We got chance after chance and did not convert. But that was certainly an encouraging performance."

When asked how does he motivate his players for tonight's clash, he said,

"It comes down to characters. As far as I am concerned it’s not difficult at all. So, in football, whether you play to win in training or whether you play to win on a field, for me it’s second nature. That’s the kind of mentality we are trying to instil to these players."

"For me, you have to motivate and win football matches. And I’m sure they will be fine tomorrow. They can take encouragement from the last performance and if we play like we did against Bengaluru, we will be fine."

He listed the players that have suffered injuries and won't be in action against KBFC.

"Robbie Keane had a groin injury; a soft tissue. He had a scan in the week. Looks like it could be a while. He certainly won’t be available tomorrow. We suffered another injury during the morning training when David Cotterill got injured. It looks like it could be long-term as well. So currently we have Robbie Keane possibly medium to long-term, Cotterill long-term and Zequinha long-term."

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