Gregory hopes for a positive result

Speaking about NorthEast, the 63-year-old Gregory felt it would be a tough nut to crack. “We are not expecting an easy game. It will be disappointed at not winning against Jamshedpur FC despite dominating the game from start to finish. It had a lot of possession and it’s always a hard team to play against,” opined Gregory. 

Gregory attributed the loss to FC Goa to nerves getting the better of some of the youngsters in the team. “In the previous match, many of our players got nervous especially during the last 25 minutes. We looked to be a better balanced team in the second half as we created plenty of chances. With the first match being out of the way, my team has a fair idea of understanding of what Indian football is all about,” said Gregory. 

His counterpart João Carlos Pires de Deus sounded confident of grabbing all three points and was pleased with the number of chances his team came up with in its drawn match against Jamshedpur FC. “We had almost 15 shots at goal. I’m not bothered about we not being able to convert any of those. I can confidently say that at the end of the league, the top goal-scorer will be from our team,” remarked the 41-year-old manager. 

About his team’s not so glorious past, where it failed to finish in the top four, Carlos Pires said he would not be bogged down by what happened in the past and he is only focused only on the present and the immediate future. “I can’t speak about my team’s track record. This is a fresh start for me and the team. We are improving as a unit and we will be a stronger side than we were,” concluded the NE United manager.