Guwahati: Kerala Blasters' player-boss David James is determined for a positive start to his team's campaign when the Sachin Tendulkar-owned franchise kicks-off its Indian Super League campaign on Monday here at the Indira Gandhi Stadium against the home team NorthEast United FC.
This will also be James' first managerial role in his two-decade long career, and the former England goalkeeper insisted there are no nerves in the team ahead of their opening tie and all the team members are pretty confident.
"Everybody is happy and hopefully we can carry our pre-season form in the main tournament. Our games in pre-season were against top opposition and we are happy to have won all three games. Now we're ready for the real test. We have been improving all the time and will continue to work hard and work on different things, James added in interview with IBNLive Sports.
The Blasters won 1-0, 3-1 and 1-0 against Mohammedan SC, Santa Cruz and Churchill Brothers respectively in the pre-season friendlies.
Nigerian national football team's Penn Orji, Irish Colin Falvey, Scotsman Jamie McAllister, Australian footballer Andrew Barisic and former EPL player Michael Chopra are some of the foreign recruits that the team from south has recruited.
James agreed there was a difference in style of play and class between the foreign players in the ISL and the domestic players, but he thinks ISL will help the youngsters in the country develop and he himself will make sure to give a lots of tips to the youngsters in the Kerala team.
"I have talked to the Indian players and they look very motivated. We also have Trevor Morgan (former East Bengal coach) who has a fantastic knowledge of the domestic scenario and together we want to win games and start the tournament on a winning note," he concluded.
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