'We have great fighting spirit' - Jamshedpur FC are on the right track, insists Owen Coyle despite a spate of draws

Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle feels that his side are on the right track, even as they are struggling to convert draws into wins, ahead of their Indian Super League (ISL) tie against NorthEast United on Friday.

After their opening day defeat at the hands of Chennaiyin FC, Coyle's former club, the Men of Steel are on an unbeaten run of five games that includes a 2-1 win over ATK Mohun Bagan. However, four of them have been draws which sees them placed seventh on the table. 

Most recently, Coyle's side held Mumbai City to a 1-1 draw despite playing with 10 men for more than hour following Aitor Monroy's 28th minute sending off. 

"I thought it was an outstanding performance (vs Mumbai). With the 11 v 11, we felt that we could win the game and that being said, when we were down to 10 men, we showed that we have a great spirit. We still have a number of players who are not available to us. So it's an enormous sort of satisfaction to see how hard the group that we have are working and we are moving in the right direction.

"[We are going to deal with it] in the same way Dinliana (Laldinliana Renthlei) was not available (against Mumbai City due to suspension), David Grande is not available, [besides] Joyner (Lourenco), Narender (Gahlot), Nick Fitzgerald (on account of injuries). The list is endless but it's the boys that we have that we have to focus on and whoever is asked to come in will do a job with tremendous pride," he said.

The 54-year-old took a moment to appreciate NorthEast United's unbeaten start to the season but felt his side are up for the challenge. 

"The foreign and the Indian players in the NorthEast squad have shown that they are hard-working and it's always going to be a tough game as they all (games) are in the ISL. So they have enormous respect which they will get [from Jamshedpur too] but it's a game that we are looking forward to. We know that, if we are at our very best, it's a game that we can win. 

With players like Idrissa Sylla, Khassa Camara and Luis Machado to deal with, Coyle stated, "In terms of strategy, we are very respectful of the opposition and the qualities that they have, but our focus will be on Jamshedpur for bringing in our game - being aware of the threats, trying to nullify them but equally looking for our players to impose our game. We are five games unbeaten but we want three points (against NorthEast)."