VASCO: Kerala Blasters FC will look to get back to winning ways and continue their upward movement when they take on bottom-placed NorthEast United FC in an Indian Super League match here on Friday.
A resurgent Bengaluru FC ended Kerala's 10-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win in the last match. It was their second defeat of the season and head coach Ivan Vukomanovic would like to believe that it was a blip in an otherwise terrific campaign that saw them move to the top of the table for the first time since the inception of the league.
Kerala's defence has been one of the key factors behind the longest unbeaten run in their history. They kept clean sheets in five of the 10 matches and conceded only six goals in those matches.
Kerala conceded more than one goal in a game only once in their 10-game unbeaten run.
"We have to continue working hard. In the last match, we played after a long time but the boys showed a good mentality to fight. The boys have a winners' mentality and we want our fans to know whatever game it is," Vukomanovic said before the game.
NorthEast United have endured a wretched run so far, slipping to the foot of the table. Their plight was summed up in their last game which they lost 0-5 to league leaders Hyderabad FC, but coach Khalid Jamil said the heavy defeat is behind them now and the team is focussed on the next game.
"We are focusing on tomorrow's game. We are not thinking about the heavy defeat in the last game. This is the best solution for us," he said.
On Deshorn Brown, Jamil said: "He is fine hopefully. He practised and he is better now. He will be available for tomorrow's game."
Brown has not featured in the last four matches for the club and that is one of the primary reasons why they have struggled in front of goal. They've also struggled to score in open play without him.
NorthEast United will be working hard on their set-piece routines as well after seeing the number of goals conceded by Kerala Blasters in open play recently.
In their last eight games, they have conceded five goals and only one has been from open play. In total, they have conceded five of their 11 goals from open play, the fewest by a team this season.
