SC East Bengal’s Irish winger Anthony Pilkington wants to win the ISL Derby against ATK Mohun Bagan, slated for November 27, for the fans.

“Well, I have played some Derby matches in England. As players we focus only on our job. But we understand it is a big deal for the fans. We will do our best to get full three points and give our fans back home in Calcutta the early bragging rights,” Pilkington told The Telegraph.

Coming on board as ISL’s 11th team, East Bengal haven’t got much time to settle down but the former Cardiff City player believes that wouldn’t make things harder for them. “The training has been well organised and thoroughly professional. We have played our first pre-season match (versus Kerala Blasters) on Tuesday. We barely had six or seven training sessions but quite a few things we had been working on came along quite well. Of course, some things remain to be worked on, but that will be there always.”

Pilkington scored a brace in the 3-1 win against Blasters and is now looking forward to score more when the real action begins. “I prefer to play an exciting game. I would like to see a lot of goals being scored. We have been planning our training sessions keeping that overall objective in mind. Some of our drills are already working out quite effectively on the field. I am sure it will hold us in good stead once the season begins in right earnest,” he said.

Pilkington said head coach Robbie Fowler’s association with SC East Bengal was the reason why joined the club. “I received a call from the coach. That was a major factor in my coming over. I have played for various clubs in England but at this stage of my career I had been looking for a new challenge.

“I have always believed that you never stop learning. When you get to learn from someone like Fowler who has played at the level that he has, we will hopefully continue to learn. We are looking forward to work together over the next few weeks and do well in the debut season in India,” he said.

Pilkington, 32, loves to watch the game and makes a note of anything interesting he sees. “I love watching football. I take note of how players who play in the position that I do, how they move on the ground. We are still working out where I will be playing in the team this year. I keenly note how they move and create angles and spaces. Players like Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden are fantastic. They are learning from Pep Guardiola, one of the best coaches of the world. As I said earlier, you never stop learning.”