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Atletico de Kolkata boss Antonio Habas gave an update on the fitness of marquee signing Helder Postiga ahead of their crucial fixture against FC Pune City and didn’t have good news for the Atletico fans. Postiga was injured in the season opener against Chennaiyin FC in which he scored twice, and was sent back to Portugal for recovery. He then returned to India two weeks ago but has failed to even make it to the bench despite training with the squad.
Antonio Habas said, “He's training with the side, but he's still not match-fit to play in the tournament. At the moment, he's not available for the Indian Super League; he's not making any improvements on his fitness.”
Atletico de Kolkata are currently sitting on the top of the table, and a win tomorrow will make them the first team to qualify for the playoffs. However, Habas wants his team to win the remaining two games and does not want to rely on other teams or goal difference to qualify for the playoffs.
“My objective is to win every game, and I'm not thinking about the future. Three points are very important for me, and if that happens tomorrow the goal difference will not matter much,” he explained.
“We don't want to concede goals but if we do, then we want to score more, and want to win with a greater margin.”
Not time to panic: Pune City coach David Platt
FC Pune City have much more work to do than the defending champions as they are currently sitting sixth in the points table. A win tomorrow will take them back into the top 4. Pune City face a daunting task against Atletico de Kolkata, who have won three of their last four games. The visitors are yet to win an away game this season, but the hosts have never beaten FC Pune City since the inception of the Indian Super League.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, David Platt said his team needs to improve their away form and the first step was to win against the defending champions.
“We definitely like to have better away games, but it's the way it is and can't deal with it now,” Platt said. “The immediate focus is to do well against Atletico de Kolkata and we're prepared for that.”
Platt is also calm about his team’s chances of qualifying for the play-offs saying top four is still in their reach, and there is no reason to panic just yet.
“We have got three games left and we know that we are within the touching distance of top four. I don't think it's time to press the panic button.
“It's always a challenge, we have three games left. The points table is fluctuating on a daily basis. Every day, it throws a new scenario. I have to score back to back wins to be back in the contention.”
Atletico de Kolkata host FC Pune City at the Salt Lake Stadium tomorrow night at 7:00 PM IST.
