After a two-week-long gap and days in isolation, Jamshedpur Football Club is back to get going on the pitch again, starting with a Hero India Indian Super League match against FC Goa on Friday.

The Men of Steel stopped training as seven players test positive for Covid-19. The club's matches against Hyderabad fC and Mumbai City FC had to be cancelled as JFC was not able to field the required number of players.

However, now things are okay and the club resumed training three days ago.

Asked about squad preparations after the break, Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle said: "I don't have any doubts that it is going to be a difficult match for us for a number of reasons - lack of training and being in quarantine for such a long period, which is a big challenge, both physically and mentally for the lads. Luckily, we have managed to get them back on the grass in different stages. 7-8 players have trained for 3 days, 4-5 players have trained for 2 and a few of them have trained just for a day."

On the challenge posed by FC Goa, he said the other challenge is that his team is going to be playing a very good FC Goa side with some wonderfully talented players. "They probably have not had the required results from their performances they have merited and that's the challenge in the Hero ISL.

"We have to make sure we are at our best in our upcoming game. There are a few players who won’t be able to make it to the game, but we have to make sure we are ready and aim to continue the winning run that we had going prior to the break. Obviously, the break did not come at a good time in the season for us but we have started working again and building momentum," Owen said.

On the break being a possible advantage for the players, Owen said: “In terms of advantage, the viewers will say that the players will be fresh but that’s not completely true, because they have been stuck inside a room which they could not leave for almost 2 weeks which is a big challenge for them.”

Jamshedpur FC is placed 3rd on the table with 19 points (11 matches, 5 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses). Hyderabad FC top the table with 20 points (12 matches, 5 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses) while Kerala Blasters FC has 2nd spot with 20 points (11 matches, 5 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss) FC Goa, on the other hand, are languishing on the 9th position with 14 points (13 matches,3 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses).