“The Durand Cup gives us a chance to try out a few things before the league starts,” says Mumbai City head coach Des Buckingham

Mumbai City FC under Des Buckingham was not exceptional in last year’s Indian Super League but it was mainly due to the fact that he was still knowing Indian football more and more. His knowledge about the game came to power as he guided the Islanders to a AFC Champions League win- first for an Indian club.

Carrying that high, Buckingham wants to continue that momentum into the ISL season this time around as he is keen to improve his credentials from last season. The English tactician believes that his team will show progress in the Durand Cup as it gives them the perfect platform to see out things ahead of an intense league season.

Buckingham shared how the showing at the Champions League was just a glimpse as he wants his players to continue that momentum. He points out how he wants his team to play a certain brand of football and feels that the Durand Cup will be a great platform for them to understand what he wants from the players.

“I understand the league a lot better in comparison from last season, so there’s a lot of learnings we’ll take from that, which will help us in the next season. But it’s the working relationship with the players and spending the eight months that we did together and we saw a good example of what happens when we played the Champions League. It helps the players understand how we want to play and what we want to do. It also enables us to have a very solid base from the pre-season point of view, which is why I am really excited about the upcoming year,” shared Des Buckingham during a roundtable session.

Buckingham highlights how a second pre-season with the team has helped him and the players understand how they should function. However the fitness levels are yet to be there but he hopes to work on it and get where they ended last season especially in the Champions League. “You see the real benefits in the second pre-season, where the players really understood the plans, physical demands and doing that consistently. So, we have that base and it’s important that we get back to where we were as quickly as we can and kick on and enhance all sides of our game,”the Englishman pointed out.

The Islanders are going on a three week pre-season in Dubai and will return to India and feature in the Durand Cup. It is one of the oldest tournaments in Asia and was first held in 1888. The 131st edition of the tournament is scheduled to commence on August 16. The 20 teams will be divided in groups and the tournament will be taking place across three states of West Bengal, Assam and Manipur.

“It’s a tournament we are focused on, we’ll be taking our full first team and we’ll use the games to be as successful as we can in that tournament. It’s the oldest tournament in India and we are looking forward to it, especially playing with fans around for the first time in a while. The Cup gives a bit of a chance to try a few things out and then it always gives us the games to prepare for the season,” Buckingham concluded.