The visitors are yet to win a single game in their three fixtures so far in the tournament but have been tough to break down defensively. A confident Lobera said that his side would be concentrating on their own strengths rather than the weaknesses of the opponent.
“I don’t think there’s any point in my team thinking much about how the other team is going to play. What we need to think about is to focus on ourselves as the team at home. To be a top team, we’ll have to be strong at home and that’s what we are going to be focusing on,” the Spaniard said at the pre-match press conference on Friday.
Rene Meulensteen’s men have conceded only one goal so far in the league though they have struggled with their attack. Lobera though refused to characterize the two-time runners-up of the Indian Super League (ISL) as a defensive side ahead of their clash.
“I won’t classify Kerala as just a defensive team. From what we have seen so far, they have been very strong defensively, but they have got a lot of players who can create a lot of chances,” he stated.
“The second thing is the kind of opponent that we will be coming up against. For example, the matches against Mumbai and Bengaluru were two different styles of playing. So we have to adapt ourselves to the situations that we were facing. I will always pick the best first 11 that will help us to win the game.”
Quizzed if playing after a gap of eight days is a good thing for his side who are on the winning momentum, Lobera replied that it is all about adapting to the calendar.
“Eight days is a long time but the league is devised the way it is. It’s not that the fixtures are drawn up at our ease. We need to learn on how to adapt ourselves according to the calendar and improve ourselves accordingly. It is true that we might lose a little bit of a rhythm especially after playing after a win, but we have to take these days as a positive,” he signed off.
