ATK Mohun Bagan’s new signing Australian Dimitri Petratos said he would give his all for the club. ATK Mohun Bagan, who failed miserably in the Durand Cup and lost in the AFC Cup inter-zonal semi-finals, begin their ISL IX campaign against Chennaiyin FC at home on Monday.
Juan Ferrando’s men haven’t been able to score many in the five matches they have played so far and fans hope that Petratos will solve the problem in front of the goal.
ATK Mohun Bagan decided to let go of prolific striker Roy Krishna and his partner in-crime David Williams to Bengaluru FC and Perth City, respectively, and the lack of goals so far may have given an impression that Ferrando may have erred on that.
Petratos, the 29-year-old Australian World Cupper, said he would try to score as many goals as possible.
“I am looking forward to the first game against Chennaiyin FC. I am working hard for the last month... getting to know my teammates... We want to start well. Our preparations have been really good,” he told the ATK Mohun Bagan media team.
The Australian said he enjoys taking pressure and is ready to rock. “To be honest I enjoy taking pressure and look forward to the challenge of scoring goals... My job is to score goals. I will tell the fans that I will give my best... My personal target will be to enjoy football... Of course scoring and winning games are important but my primary target is to enjoy football... If you do that rest will follow,” he added.
Petratos said he was not thinking about how other teams are preparing for the league.
“The main thing is to focus on your team... every team and every match will be difficult but I am not thinking about how other teams have shaped up. We have full belief in ourselves. That’s the main thing. We will take one game at a time,” he said.
He revealed he spoke to some of the A-League players who have played in the ISL.“I had spoken to some of the players who have played or still playing in ISL. Also, ATKMohun Bagan is one of the biggest teams in Indian football. I wanted to be part of a club who have one of the richest histories in Indian football. That also played a role in my decision to come to India,” he said.
Candid Constantine
East Bengal coach Stephen Constantine said Kerala Blasters were the deserving winners in the lung-opener in Kochi on Friday.
The hosts won 3-1.
“They won the game fair and square. I don’t want to make excuses... We’re a young team, we have been training for six weeks... but that is actually the case. I thought we did okay in the first half. In the second half we lacked a little bit of concentration at times and (Adrian) Luna scored a great goal. But he shouldn’t have been in that position and somebody should have gone with him,” said Constantine.
