PREVIEW
Multiple injuries and the hot weather have posed problems for Kerala Blasters this season and the tight Indian Super League (ISL) schedule has only added to Ivan Vukomanovic’s headache.
As the Blasters meet East Bengal at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday, coach Vukomanovic will be working out strategies to keep his players fresh for the matches ahead and the playoffs.
“Before we left for Jamshedpur (for the March 30 match against Jamshedpur FC), we were sitting and saying...next two weeks we have four games, four training sessions and 10 flights.
“So you think, how do you refresh and rest players so that they are capable of coming to the pitch, whether home or away, and perform to get victories? This is my concern as a coach,” said Vukomanovic here on Tuesday.
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“So probably tomorrow, you have to rotate... at least five or six players that you have on the bench and bring in others because a couple of hours after the game, we need to fly to Guwahati (for the April 6 game against NorthEast United).”
The good news is the team’s star Adrian Luna is back to training, after his injury and surgery, which offers hope that he could come later for the crucial matches.
Blasters (30 points), who are fifth in the standings, had beaten East Bengal (currently 11th with 18 points) 2-1 when they last met on November 4.
-Stan Rayan
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