ISL 2018-19: Forwards let the team down but Bikey will make a difference in the defence, says ATK player Jayesh Rane
ATK lost their opening two matches in the ongoing ISL and are currently last on the Indian Super League table.
With the Indian national football team paying a visit to China for a friendly match, the rest of the players in the respective squads will have ample time to rectify their mistakes from the previous matches. ATK players Andre Bikey, Debjit Majumder, Jayesh Rane and Ankit Mukherjee attended a fan based media event in Kolkata on Wednesday.
ATK winger Jayesh Rane feels that the lack of intent from the forwards is the main reason the Kolkata based team lost the matches to Kerala Blasters FC and NorthEast United FC. He also admitted the fact that Andre Bikey's inclusion in the playing XI will be quite useful for the team.
While speaking to Sportskeeda during the event, he said, "Andre Bikey is back in training now, he started training yesterday, he is also fully fit now. He will obviously make a difference in the team definitely. We hope that it will be a positive difference and we'll get the three points in the next game."
He added, "It is not that Gerson (Vieira) and (John) Johnson, it is not that they are doing bad, they are doing well. They are giving their full effort." ATK conceded three goals in the first couple of matches and is yet to score one.
When asked about whether the lack of ball distribution the main reason for the poor start, Jayesh said, "It's not that they are not experienced, Pronay (Halder) and (El) Maimouni (Noussair), they are doing well but it is on us, we should score goals, the wingers and the forwards. That was lacking in the first two games. We will make sure that it does not repeat in the next game and get some goals."
Jayesh feels that the team is yet to combine well as a unit, but there is still hope for them in the ongoing season. "It is just two matches, we should concentrate more and work hard and then we'll get the results," said the footballer from Mumbai. ATK will play their next match away to Delhi Dynamos FC on October 17.