Mumbai City FC manager Buckingham wary of tough group

Of the young lot, Gurkirat [Singh] and Ayush [Chhikara] are players I’m excited to see,” Buckingham said at a virtual press conference on Sunday.

Buoyed by the confidence of a 3-1 win over Jamshedpur FC to become the first Indian club to achieve a successive spot in the AFC Champions League, Mumbai City FC (MCFC) gear up for their Super Cup opener against I-league outfit Churchill Brothers at Manjeri, Kerala, on Tuesday.

Coach Des Buckingham is optimistic about his team’s chances. “We are very happy to represent not only the club, but also Indian football at Asia’s biggest stage again next year. What we did last year with two wins and a draw and finishing second in the group, we’ll try and do the same again or even better it,” said Buckingham, who has named an all-Indian line-up and has full faith in them. “The foreign players do make a difference, but I’ve spoken about trying to build this club by developing Indian players. When I look at our squad, we have Phurba [Lachenpa] in goal, Vignesh [Dakshinamurthy], Mandar [Rao Dessai], Rahul Bheke and Mehtab [Singh] at the back, Vinit [Rai], Rowllin [Borges] and Apuia [Ralte] in midfield. We have [Lallianzuala] Chhangte, Bipin [Singh] and Vikram [Partap Singh] in attack. Of the young lot, Gurkirat [Singh] and Ayush [Chhikara] are players I’m excited to see,” Buckingham said at a virtual press conference on Sunday.

Despite finishing top of the ISL table and winning the League Shield in record-breaking fashion, Buckingham is wary of the teams in their group (Churchill Brothers, NorthEast FC and Chennaiyin FC). “We are preparing against this team [Churchill Brothers] like we prepare for every ISL game, Durand Cup game or Champions League game. We’ve watched their qualifying game to see what they can do against us. We will continue playing attacking and exciting football whether we are facing a very strong I-league team or an ISL team. At NorthEast, there has been a lot of changes, so it will be interesting to see how they set up, and we know Chennai, who gave us two very good games [in ISL]. They go at full strength with everybody. So, [they are] a real challenge for us,” concluded Buckingham.

Also read: ‘Proud moment’ for coach Buckingham after Mumbai City seals AFC Champions League berth

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