"This club has given me so much that it will always feel like home" - Akash Mishra on returning to Hyderabad to face the Nawabs | ISL 2023-24

"Yaar, mai toh home dressing room me jaane waala thaa! (I was about to enter the home dressing room!) Muscle memory is such that I did not remember where I had to go after the game," begins Akash Mishra.

Chatting with Sportskeeda after Mumbai City's thumping defeat over his former club Hyderabad FC, India left-back Akash Mishra was candid enough to admit that muscle memory pushed him towards the home dressing room on Wednesday.

This, despite the fact that he moved to Mumbai City in the summer transfer window for reportedly a whopping sum. It left a gaping hole in the Nawabs' defence, which was filled by Vignesh Dakshinamurthy for the time being.

Mishra has now become a vital player for the Islanders, and a regular starter for India too. The 22-year-old was focused on his defensive duties on Wednesday and was pleased with the clean sheet his team managed to get.

"Coming back to Hyderabad, I felt extremely nostalgic as I had worked hard and spent three seasons here. We also won the ISL during my time here. The only thing is that I think the fans were much fewer today. The club is going through some tough times, and I hope they recover from that. This club has given me so much that it will always feel like home," he said.

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"I am extremely happy with the clean sheet" - Akash Mishra

Akash Mishra in action for Mumbai City. [Twitter]

Mishra's piercing runs down the left wing to go with his accurate crosses were what made him such a threat to reckon with when wearing Yellow and Black.

Mumbai City snooped down on Mishra for these qualities of his and rewarded the Nawabs amply for their financial prudence in willing to sell him. Wearing the blue of the Islanders now, Mishra has cemented his spot with his pin-point passes while attacking and top-notch man-marking while defending.

"To be honest, it was a little difficult to play this game. It is always difficult to come back after a break. I am extremely happy with the clean sheet since I am a defender. However, all of us know that we could have done much better, and hopefully, this will spur us forward," said Mishra.

Head coach Petr Kraty, who took over from the departing Des Buckingham mid-season, is a big fan of Akash Mishra. Thus, it is no surprise to see the latter start every game under him.

Mishra has also become a regular starter under India head coach Igor Stimac, who trusts in his abilities to cross the ball and bring his more attack-minded colleagues into play.

"Quality-wise, we could have done much better. Now that we have two more games, we will train hard and try to focus on those games. Every game is different for us. We will go into the next game with the same motivation to pick up all the points. We will go game by game and try to take it (the title race) as deep as possible," he signed off.