Grayson’s Blues Keen To Turn The Tide; New Signing Pablo Perez Joins Training

Simon Grayson said his Bengaluru FC side were eager to set things right against a ‘confident’ Kerala Blasters team, when they face off at the JN Stadium, in Kochi, on Sunday. The Blues, who find themselves in ninth place with seven points from eight games, are up against last season’s finalists, who are placed fifth on the League charts.

“This is one of the fixtures that I had heard a lot about when I first arrived in India. The rivalry between the two clubs, the number of supporters that are going to be there in the stands and the added spice that they’re on a good run of form and we’re trying to get back to winning ways, makes this an exciting fixture and we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Grayson said, speaking to the media on Friday.

Bengaluru came off the back of four defeats to win 2-0 in Goa, before a narrow 1-0 loss to ATK Mohun Bagan at the Kanteerava last week. The Englishman stated that individual errors had cost his side on multiple occasions this term, and that it was something his side would do well to avoid going forward.

“We’re working really hard on eradicating the individual errors. Too many times this season, we’ve gifted the opposition winning goals and it’s those fine margins that have been the difference. The Blasters are a team that had a bad run and then went on a spree of winning matches. They have built the confidence and have a fantastic player in (Adrian) Luna, who is a good technician of the ball. They’re a team on the high and will be pushing to sustain that,” Grayson added.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s new signing Pablo Perez joined the side in training earlier this week, and Grayson said the Spaniard’s inclusion would be a call that is left late. “Pablo is a very versatile player, and has fit in really well with the team. Over the last few days he’s done a lot of conditioning work, but not a lot of football work. I have yet to decide if he will play a part this weekend, because I have to be careful. If not on Sunday, then he’ll have another week’s training before getting a run out against Jamshedpur,” the Englishman said.

Kick-off between the Blues and Kerala Blasters is scheduled for 7.30 pm and will be telecast live on the STAR Sports Network, Disney+Hotstar and JioTV.