East Bengal FC head coach Stephen Constantine believes his team are far from the finished article as they take on Kerala Blasters FC in the opening encounter of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 campaign at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi on Friday but vowed to do everything in their capacity to take three points from the match.
The Red and Golds have undergone an overhaul in the summer as the former Indian men's national team head coach has taken over the club that have almost an entirely new squad this season. Constantine suggested his team will take it one step at a time in the Hero ISL this season as the players and the coaching staff slowly understand each other better. East Bengal will hope that they overcome the disappointment of the last two seasons when they finished ninth and at bottom (11th). "It will be a real test for us. But then this is what we all want... to be tested every week, every game. We are slowly getting there. One thing I will promise. We will give our fans a good account of ourselves,” said Constantine.
Constantine has brought in some known faces of Indian football in Cleiton Silva and VP Suhair, who will be in charge of East Bengal attack and link-up play. Silva had two fruitful seasons with Bengaluru FC. With a penchant for goals, he will be their key man up front. Ican Gonzalez and Alex Lima will further strengthen the spine in the team. Charalambos Kyriakou is someone who can play multiple positions in the backline which is always a bonus.