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Fans push you beyond limits to do better: Chinglensana

“The crowd, at times, push you beyond your limits to do better for the fans and so, we do expect the Delhi fans to come out and support us,” said Chinglensana Singh, a Delhi Dynamos FC defender, to Millennium Post as the Lions get ready to take on FC Pune City at home on Thursday.

Dynamos, sitting 6th on the league table, are in a must win situation to power their campaign forward.

The Manipur defender is very happy to have signed up with Shillong Lajong, from where he made it to the Dynamos’ squad and wants the Delhi crowd to turn out like football crazy people of North-East do.

Sana feels that having Zambrotta as a coach helps him a lot considering the coach himself played as a right-back all his career. “He knows how the shape of the team should be as a defender and his experience of the same helps the full-backs a lot. He has so much of knowledge and he’s trying to impart all of that to us Indian players.” 

On how Zambrotta plays around with his playing positions, Sana said, “I started the first game as a right-back but then Anas got injured and I got the centre-back position, which is my actual position, so I’m happy about that. Now that Anas is recovering, which is a good news for us, let’s see what the coach decides.”

Having played most of the games with Ruben, Sana feels he creates the most compact formation with the Spanish.

Accepting that their own defensive mistakes have impacted the last two games, Sana said, “A clean sheet is the highlight of the defenders and the goalkeeper, so we are trying to do that for the coming games but it is football and you can’t always keep a clean sheet. We are focusing on our defensive shape and will look not to make the same mistakes.”

Eugeneson Lyngdoh is currently representing Bengaluru FC in the AFC Cup and hasn’t been able to turn up for the FC Pune City in the ISL. Considering his scintillating performances for Bengaluru FC and the national team, Lyngdoh could have been a huge boost for the Pune squad and could have troubled Delhi immensely. 

“He is a big player. Like we saw in the AFC Cup game against Johor, he was so creative and he’s also very deadly with set pieces. So, if he would have been there, he could have been a big problem for us but I’m glad he isn’t there and I’m looking forward to the game,” expressed Sana.

Commenting on Bengaluru FC, who recently created history by becoming the first Indian club to reach the AFC Cup final, Sana said, “Despite being a new club, look at what they’ve achieved in such a short span of time. As you can see a lot of Bengaluru players are also a part of the national team. It is because of the kind of training facilities they get and the high tempo they have at the training and that helps. They are ambitious and that’s a good thing. They even have the GPS system, the first professional club in India to have that. We use it in the national team’s training and that tells us of our work rate and what we are doing right or wrong. So, with all these advancements, we are going in the right direction and I’m sure other clubs will take the cue and follow the lead.”

Sana emphasized on the need for better pitches and infrastructure for further improvement in the quality of football in India. He also urged the fans to come out and give boost to the game.

Time and again, the coaches have said that the ISL is a very challenging tournament considering its time frame. Sana agreed to that and said, “A lot of hard work and intense training is required for sustaining in the league. The competition is neck and neck and we are looking forward to putting up a good show against Pune and get back to winning ways.”
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