Pressure on both teams: Amrinder ahead of key duel

But the league narrative took a dramatic turn while approaching the home stretch. The resurrection of CFC and MCFC coupled with Jamshedpur FC and NorthEast United FC’s falls from grace have set up a grandstand finish ahead of the all-important play-offs stage.

Double round-robin phase victor FC Goa, ATK and holder Bengaluru FC have already cemented their berth in the knockouts, with Chennaiyin, Mumbai City and Odisha FC involving in a rat race to make the only available spot their own. The fierce fight for the fourth position on the table could come to a close on Friday as Owen Coyle’s CFC and Jorge Costa-managed MCFC are set to run into each other in a possibly ‘All or Nothing’ contest at the Mumbai Football Arena.

Mumbai City captain and custodian Amrinder Singh, understudy to first-choice goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the Indian National Team, couldn’t resist his excitement ahead of the decisive duel.

“We have one goal and that is to finish in the top four. We will give our best to achieve that objective. The training sessions over the last few days have been great. The team is high on confidence and working hard. We are waiting for the match,” Amrinder, a mainstay between the sticks at MCFC, told DT Next.

“We will be playing in front of our fans and that will be an advantage. We have done well at home so far in ISL 6,” added the shotstopper. Last week, an uber-attacking FC Goa cut open the Mumbai City defence and crushed it 5-2, a far from ideal result for the latter heading into its final league encounter.  

However, going by Amrinder’s words, the ISL 2018-19 semi-finalist has already put the Goa game behind it. “It is obviously difficult to pick yourself up after such matches. But Costa has handled the situation brilliantly. He asked us to concentrate on the next fixture, which is very crucial. Costa was a big player during his days and has been in these situations a lot,” he said.

Although Chennaiyin has the luxury of a game in hand, Amrinder stressed the two-time title-winner would be under pressure as well to deliver on the night.

“Coyle has got the best out of the CFC players. But, the six-match unbeaten run won’t mean anything if it loses against us,” he stated.