The ATK dismissed its coach, the former Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham, in the morning when the team prepared for its crucial outing against Chennaiyin FC on Thursday. This put the technical director of the team so far and Sheringham’s compatriot Ashley Westwood in charge to revive the fortune of the defending champion.
Currently placed eighth in the standings with 12 points from 10 matches, ATK needs wins to sustain its play-off chances and Westwood will have to devise a way of realising that when it takes on might of Chennaiyin FC. The visitor is comfortably placed second with 20 points from 11 matches and has already won more than double the matches compared to ATK.
“We don’t have lot of time to instil massive difference. Hope we can inject a little bit of freshness, new faces can change things a bit,” said Westwood ahead of the match. “I have been the head coach before (with Bengaluru FC) and have coach long enough in India. So, I do not see any difficulty. I have confidence in myself and in the team,” Westwood said while confirming that striker Robbie Keane is unavailable owing to injury.
“Sometimes things like this happen. A new guy comes in and suddenly everything changes. We saw what happened at NorthEast (United FC) couple of weeks ago. My good friend Avram Grant came in and they started winning again. Sometimes it works and sometimes does not. I just have to make sure it does not work (for ATK),” said the Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory. The visiting coach is taking charge of the side after serving a three-match ban. Chennayin is look to get back the winning rhythm after losing its previous outing against NorthEast United.
