Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], October 31 : Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson is optimistic about his team's morale before they take on Odisha FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
The Blues' head coach wants to instil the winning mentality back into his players and take it one match at a time, just like they did last season.
"I want the players to have the mindset of winning each game as it comes, and this group did that last year. We have to do everything we're capable of doing against Odisha FC and then go towards Hyderabad. It's going to be one game at a time," Grayson said in the pre-match press conference as quoted by ISL website.
The Blues haven't had the best away record has not been good, as they faced defeats in both the away matches they have played this season.
"The schedule hasn't been kind to us. We have a lot of away games at the start of the season but all we're trying to do is build our fixtures up," Grayson stated.
Odisha FC also finds themselves in a similar position as the Blues, having secured the same number of points from the same number of matches. Odisha sit two places above Bengaluru FC on a better goal difference.
The Englishman anticipates a formidable challenge on Tuesday and foresees both teams being eager to secure the three points. He emphasizes the importance of his team's defensive shape to prevent their opponents from exploiting too much space.
"We go to Odisha FC in good spirits knowing that we'll keep working and improving every day. But we know that it's a tough game. I also think that Odisha will look at our team and think that this will be a tough game for them as well," he stated.
"I'm sure Odisha FC will look to keep possession a lot and dictate the tempo, so we have to be disciplined in our work ethic and defensive shape. Against FC Goa, I thought we gave them too much space and we'll have to avoid that against Odisha FC," Grayson concluded.
With four points in the ISL points table, Bengaluru FC are standing in the 10th place after losing two out of their four games.
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