ISL 2017: Injury concerns for Wes Brown ahead of Kerala Blasters' opening game against ATK

What's the story?

The latest edition of the Indian Super League is set to start on Friday with the Kerala Blasters taking on ATK at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. It will be a replay of last year's final and will certainly be a mouthwatering clash, with both the teams having spent big on bagging some high profile players and have two big-name managers to lead their teams.

Rene Meulensteen will be the manager for the Blasters this ISL 2017 season and in an interview with local paper Mathrubhumi, he shared his thoughts prior to the match and also gave an important injury update.

He shared his concerns over the fitness of Wes Brown, stating that the player is suffering from a strain in his thigh and the team's technical staff is monitoring the situation. He could miss the match in case he does not recover in time.

In case you didn't know

The Dutchman, who is a former Manchester United first team coach, was announced as the Blasters manager in July earlier this year.

The heart of the matter

The coach also spoke about the how the team will look to make a fresh start this season and put the heartbreak of the previous campaign behind them.

Meulensteen said that he has evaluated all the players' performances before the start of the season and has asked them to enjoy their football. Match fitness, technique and coordination are the areas in which the team is preparing.

He added that there are players from around the world and all over India in the team and the team is doing all they can do to ensure proper coordination.