ISL final: Chennaiyin coach Gregory not afraid of Bengaluru, Jeje wants to lift trophy at Kanteerava again
Ahead of the ISL final between Bengaluru and Chennaiyin, Chennai coach John Gregory was confident his side could repeat their heroics of the league stage when they managed to beat the Blues at the Kanteeerava.
Chennaiyin had come away with three points when Dhanpal Ganesh scored an 88th-minute winner from a set-piece to make it 2-1. And the coach was adamant that his side were not afraid of anybody.
"The fact that we've come here and won - similar to the first leg of the semi-final where we won in Goa and returned to the same stage; obviously, we were confident as we'd played in that stadium and knew what to expect from the home fans.
"Likewise, here, that was my first time ever at the Kanteerava. We know what to expect tomorrow - a partisan crowd and we won the game [on the last visit]. It gives you a lot of confidence since we know we've won here before and we're not the only team that won here this season.
"While we have the utmost respect for Bengaluru for what they've achieved this season, we're not afraid of anybody."
Gregory not concerned by Jeje's poor form, especially after semi-final performance
Jeje had been in a poor run of form leading up to the semi-finals with a mini goal-drought but two goals in the semi-final second leg had sealed Chennaiyin's qualification to the final and coach John Gregory was quick to point out that his responsibility was not just scoring goals.
"As a striker, you are expected to score goals," Gregory explained. "You can be disappointed when you come off the field if you haven't scored even if your team has won. Jeje's job is to score goals and without scoring for a few weeks you can lose a bit of confidence.
"But I firmly believed he would score in the semis and unfortunately for Goa he had a couple of opportunities and everything's fantastic again. I look at what he has achieved this season - he's scored goals for us, he's won matches for us.
"Jeje's aim is more than just scoring goals and he's contributed in so many ways for our team this season. He's played some games for us where we've only provided him a couple of opportunities.
"But he works tirelessly for the team and we can attribute a lot of our success to teamwork. In that sense, Jeje never goes missing - he's our first line of defence as well."
After I-League win in 2015, Jeje wants to lift ISL trophy in Bengaluru
After Bengaluru skipper Sunil Chhetri (13 goals), Jeje is the second-highest Indian goalscorer with 9 goals. When asked about his second final with the franchise (after winning in 2015), Jeje said the pressure was on Bengaluru.
"This is a new season with new players at the club. Even our opponents are a new club [in the ISL]. This is the first time they have reached the final. The pressure is on them since they are playing in front of their fans.
"Bengaluru are a good side with good players but we are here to lift the trophy for our Chennaiyin fans."
Jeje is no stranger to lifting the trophy at the Kanteerava. He was part of the Mohun Bagan squad that clinched the I-League trophy in 2015 on the final day of the season following a draw against Bengaluru that kept them at the top of the table.
"I still remember when I lifted the I-League trophy in Bengaluru," Jeje said with a smile. "And I hope we can do that again tomorrow - especially against Bengaluru. I know them very well."
The final kicks off at the Kanteerava Stadium at 8 PM on Saturday, 17 March.