"Hungry to finish the season as strong as we start" -  Mumbai City FC's Des Buckingham ahead of AFC Champions League qualifier against Jamshedpur FC

After Mumbai City FC's marauding run in the regular season of the Indian Super League (ISL), the League Shield winners will lock horns against Jamshedpur FC to secure a spot in the Group Stage of the AFC Champions League 2023-24.

The Islanders will look to edge out the Red Miners – League Shield winners from last season – in an one-off tie on April 4 at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri, Kerala.

Ahead of the bout for an opportunity to compete in Asia’s premier club football competition, Islanders head coach Des Buckingham was visibly upbeat. In a club statement, the Englishman said:

“The morale is good, everyone is coming off the back of a successful league season. We’ve had a brief break to recalibrate and now the squad is fit and fresh. We have no selection issues or worries. We've got a group of players that are very hungry to finish the season as strong as we started.”

"The beauty of this competition is it's the highest level of club competition in Asia. For me as a coach and as players, you want to challenge yourself against the best at this level and this competition gives us the opportunity to do that,” Buckingham further added.

In April last year, Mumbai etched their names in the history books when they became the first Indian club to win a game in the AFC Champions League. The Islanders racked up another win and a draw, only to finish second in the group and eventually get knocked out.

Despite the shortcomings, Mumbai City FC's tryst in the ACL showed Indian clubs that they could also go toe-to-toe with Asian powerhouses.

The 38-year-old tactician is now eager and hungry to replicate and better the results of their previous endeavor.

“What we could achieve last year, it certainly creates hunger, knowing full well that this could be the last time for a few years that an Indian side does go to this level of competition. We were able to showcase what we could do on that stage and there is a hunger to make sure we do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to be able to do it again”, Buckingham averred.

---

“Going to be an exciting one" - Des Buckingham on the clash against Jamshedpur FC

Thanks to their ISL League Shield-winning run in 2021-22, Jamshedpur FC have a shot at representing the country at the continental level.

The Men of Steel had a contrasting run in the recently-concluded ISL campaign. JFC finished in the 10th spot and were inconsistent for most of the season.

However, against Mumbai City, the Red Miners showed great resilience with a 1-1 draw in the first leg before the Islanders secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory.

Des Buckingham is now expecting another challenging matchup.

“I think it is going to be an exciting one. They're a team that finished the season strongly. We've played them twice in the season and we had to find different ways to get results in both of those games. But it will be an exciting one, because we know what we can do and we've shown that throughout the season," he continued.

"If we can stay true to our playing style and we approach the game in the same way we have done throughout the season, we'll put ourselves in the best position to firstly perform and then hopefully that's enough on the night to come away with the result we all want,” the Mumbai City FC head coach added.

On form and paper, Mumbai City FC are slated to be the clear favorites, but Aidy Boothroyd's men will look to strangulate the Islanders.

After the Qualifiers, Mumbai will then return to the same venue for the Hero Super Cup, kicking off their cup campaign against either Real Kashmir or Churchill Brothers on April 11.