I-League: "The players have been brought on board for their experience," says RoundGlass Punjab Head Coach Ashley Westwood

Sharing his thoughts on the club and the preparations with the media, Westwood asserted firmly of the sheer brilliance he and his squad are prepared to deliver. RoundGlass Punjab is set to begin its conquest for I-League on December 26.

On the club

Speaking on his reason for joining the Punjab-based club, Westwood said that the vision of the club resonates with his own. He said, "The Club has been thought about and built for the right reasons. Our Founder Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh has a keen interest in sports and wants to create opportunities for the children and youth of Punjab, where he hails from, to play sports. He wants to enable the holistic wellbeing of people through not just sports but also a focus on nutrition, learning, encouraging a healthy lifestyle, and other aspects of wellbeing."

He later added that team itself resonates with the same thoughts and visions. He stated, "The same principles apply to our football team. We want to create a healthy, honest, and hard-working team and aim to inspire young people with our performances and style of play, in line with Sunny's vision, which includes providing a genuine platform that the children and youth of Punjab look up to, are inspired by, and that helps nurture their dreams of becoming sportspersons."

On the preseason and preparation

As the team is set to kick-off their I-League journey since December 26, sharing on the preparations and preseason, Westwood said: "Pre-season has been good. It's a new team and the more time we spend with each other, the better it is. Being in this environment, which means living and working together day in and day out helps bring the team together and allows us to find out more about one another and understand the character of each member of the team, which is part of our decision-making process. Another benefit of being together is that we can focus on football, as there are no distractions, and we can control the environment. We are trying to keep things challenging for the players and, at the same time, ensure that it is not monotonous."

On his players

RoundGlass Punjab FC has a wide array of talented individuals in their foreign as well as domestic contingent. Talking of his squad, Ashley Westwood asserted: "The players we have signed give us balance and have been brought on board for not only their abilities but also their professionalism and experience. I know the players I've worked with earlier will do things the right way and be role models for not only the younger players at the Club but also those at our Academy and our fans. We wanted a balance of youth and experience in the squad so we can challenge for the I-League."