ISL 2019-20 | Odisha FC are capable of hurting us badly, admits John Gregory
Chennaiyin FC head coach John Gregory has admitted about the quality Odisha FC posses and hailed Josep Gombau and his side ahead of Chennaiyin's home match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. The English coach also praised his forwards Andre Schembri and Nerijus Valskis for their goals.
After winning their first match of the season against Hyderabad FC on Monday, Chennaiyin FC’s will host Odisha FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. The Former champions came into winning ways and ended their goal-scoring drought in their 2-1 win against Hyderabad. John Gregory, however, is wary of the threat Odisha posses and praised Josep Gombau and his team
“Josep, he produces good footballing teams. His team is playing good football. They had an outstanding win when they played in Mumbai a couple of weeks back. If we give the ball away to them, we know they’ve got the capability of looking after it. We’ll need to be switched on.”
Chennaiyin new signings Andre Schembri and Nerijus Valskis finally fired in Chennaiyin's must-win game in the stoppage time. And Chennaiyin head coach John Gregory extended his support for forwards Andre Schembri and Nerijus Valskis, who ended Chennaiyin's 7 matches goal-scoring drought. He said, “I’ve never had any doubts about that (their goal-scoring ability) because as I said on Monday night, they score like this every day in training. Before they came to us, I knew a lot about the two of them, about their ability to score goals. And they showed it in training.
"I sometimes worry, but I worry for them because I always put myself in the position of the player. I remember what it was like for me as a player. I always have an affinity towards my players and the difficult times they go through. Andre’s goal, he almost created it himself. And when Nerijus got the opportunity, he composed himself just in a split second. He made it look simple, but it was a lot more difficult than he made it look. They both showed their quality the other night. I’ve never lost my belief in them.” Gregory added.
John Gregory then applauded the Chennaiyin fans for their support till the end and went on to admit that the reactions were something he never expected despite the occasion. The Chennaiyin boss added that he hopes his side can do the same once again against a tough Odisha FC side with ISL's new boys visiting the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
“The fans’ reaction to our win was quite amazing on the night. I hadn’t heard a stadium so noisy since we beat (FC) Goa in the semi-final of Hero ISL 2017-18. The noise that the fans made at the final whistle was quite incredible. Coming back to the hotel after that match, every member of the staff came up to the players and congratulated us on the victory. It was quite an incredible feeling for everybody, and I hope my players understand what it means to so many people connected with our club. I hope they have the desire to do the same against Odisha,” he added.
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