Chennaiyin FC: Season preview, fixtures and squad

Here is Chennaiyin FC's complete season preview, squad and full list of fixtures for the 2018 Indian Super League.

Inigo Calderon will be among the key players this season as Chennaiyin FC looks to retain its ISL title.

After the high of the ISL final in March, Chennaiyin FC was quick off the blocks in the preparation for its title defence. The club announced the following day that manager John Gregory would remain at the helm. The management was also quick to tie down the services of Mailson Alves and Gregory Nelson two days after their impressive performances against Bengaluru FC.

With the retention of Inigo Calderon in July, Chennaiyin has managed to hold together its core international members from last season with the exception of former skipper Henrique Sereno. In the absence of Sereno, Gregory has turned to centre back Alves to lead the side.

FULL PREVIEW| Chennaiyin FC: All set to defend the crown

Chennaiyin FC's fixtures (Till the mid-season break in December) All matches start at 19:30 IST Home fixtures: Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai

October 06: Chennaiyin FC vs FC Goa October 18: Chennaiyin FC vs NorthEast United FC

November 03: Chennaiyin FC vs Mumbai City FC November 29: Chennaiyin FC vs Kerala Blasters FC December 02: Chennaiyin FC vs ATK (Match 46) December 15: Chennaiyin FC vs Delhi Dynamos FC (Match 58)

Away fixtures:

September 30: Bengaluru FC vs Chennaiyin FC Venue: Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru October 23: Delhi Dynamos FC vs Chennaiyin FC Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi October 26: ATK vs Chennaiyin FC Venue: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata November 06: FC Pune City vs Chennaiyin FC Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune November 25: Jamshedpur FC vs Chennaiyin FC Venue: JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur

December 06: Mumbai City FC vs Chennaiyin FC Venue: Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai

Squad Goalkeepers:  Karanjit Singh, Sanjiban Ghosh and Nikhil Bernard. Defenders:  Mailson Alves, Eli Sabia, Inigo Calderon, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Tondonba Singh, Laldinliana Renthlei and Zohmingliana Ralte. Midfielders:  Raphael Augusto, Bedashwor Singh, Gregory Nelson, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Andrea Orlandi, Thoi Singh, Francisco Fernandes, Dhanapal Ganesh, Srinivasan Pandiyan, Anirudh Thapa and Germanpreet Singh. Forwards:  Carlos Salom, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Mohammed Rafi.