The Jamshedpur FC contingent will assemble in Goa, the venue for the Indian Super League season of 2021-22, for pre-seasons early this year.

Unlike last season when the contingent arrived in batches to Goa in October, plans are afoot to assemble by the end of September. The tournament kicks-off on November 19.

The Indian players had a nearly month-long pre-season last time but some among the foreign recruits, including goal machine Nerijus Valskis, had little time to slip into the training groove.

"Head coach Owen Coyle wants 5-6 week pre-seasons. So, we have plans to assemble in Goa by the end of next month or, at the most, by October first week. We can start our pre-seasons in the first week of October if we reach Goa by September-end since the players (and support staff) will be required to go into quarantine for 8 days. It will be good if we reach Goa early this time," a team management member said on condition of anonymity.

According to him, the quarantine schedule would depend on the anticipated third wave of the pandemic.
The team management member said Valskis could get just four days of pre-seasons last time. "In fact, he (Valskis) did his fitness drills for three days and a day for training before he played a match. Some other foreigners like Aitor Monroy, Alex Lima and Nicholas Fitzgerald also had short training time," he recalled.

Jamshedpur FC will soon start intimating the players on when to reach Goa.

The club had arranged its pre-seasons in Thailand in the 2017-18 season and Spain was the destination in the following season. However, JFC conducted its pre-seasons in Jamshedpur for the 2019-20 calendar.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, the Tilak Nagar Stadium in Vasco da Gama and the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim are the three venues slated to host the matches with strict training and social distancing protocols.

The Men of Steel stood sixth with 27 points (20 matches, seven wins, as many loses and six draws) in last season’s ISL held in Goa. The Tata Steel-owned club has not made it to the play-offs since making debut in the cash-rich ISL in 2017-18.

Most of the players are in place and the club is keen to train hard with adequate time in disposal. The club is serious about qualifying for the play-offs and beyond.. "We are doing the required things to qualify this time," the team management member said.