After defeating Kerala Blasters at the same venue in the Final of Indian Super league last year, the newly-appointed ATK coach Teddy Sheringham is of the opinion that it will be a difficult challenge to face the yellow-clad side in the opener at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi on Friday.
"It's a real tough fixture. You are going to a stadium stuffed with 60,000 crazy yellow fans, which makes it exciting for a footballing person," said the former Manchester United player. "You have to embrace that and enjoy. That's why I have come to India; to experience atmosphere like that. You don't want to play in front of 3-4,000 people; you want a strong crowd. I am looking forward to manage my team in front of such a crowd and experience a hostile atmosphere. Having 60,000 fans on Kerala's side certainly give them an advantage as it works as 12th man for them but it will also get back at you if you don't perform."
Injury to marquee players of the club, previously known as Atletico de Kolkata, has always haunted the club in last three seasons. Former club players such as Helder Postiga and luis Garcia often missed majority of the season due to injuries. The trend has continued despite a change in name (simply ATK after severing ties with Atletico Madrid) as star signing Robbie Keane is unavailable for the first couple of matches due to achilles tendon injury, sustained during pre-season. Sheringham hopes that it won't be the case this time.
"It's a bit of a blow playing without Robbie. But we got a squad of 25 very capable players and someone else will fill in those shoes. I have got no qualm about putting any of those players in there to take Robbie's place. But I hope Robbie is not out for so long like former marquee players. He is the figure head of our team, key to how we want to play the game. He is fantastic player and a leader. But him being not available for the first two games opens opportunity for somebody else and I am optimistic that his alternate will come and do a good job for us," said the ATK coach, who also informed that defender Jordi Figueras will wear captain's armband in absence of Irish forward.
Sheringham kept the card close to his chest when asked about the style of football they are going to play and who is going to replace Keane in the line-up.
"It's going to be silly of me to tell what formation or system I am going to play or which players will feature in the lineup. We will all (teams) workout to find how different teams are going to play over the first two-three games. Giving anything away right now would be silly for a manager and I am not getting into that," said the former striker.
Aware of ATK's success in the tournament, Sheringham feels there's no pressure on him to match the past results.
"I always put pressure on myself to do well and to do my best to win. Yes the club has won it last year and won it two out of three times. There's a little bit of pressure, no doubt. But if you want to play at a good level, you need to get used to pressure. The club is used to winning things and I am used to doing the same thing in the past too during my playing days," said the former UEFA Champions league winner.
Sheringham said he is quiet happy with the squad now after seeing the way they progressed during the pre-season.
"I have been very impressed with all the players in the squad. I was little bit pessimistic when we did the draft, especially during the later stages when the draft got slow. But the players turned out to be better than I expected. So I am quiet delighted. We have built a strong team over the pre-season," concluded the man who played under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.