"Clubs must start developing players to cut shortage, high costs," says Ivan Vukomanovic

Kerala Blasters are back on the road for a crucial fixture to ensure their playoff qualification as they take on East Bengal FC on Friday. In their last game, Ivan Vukomanovic made as many as six changes in the line up, and he has clear reasons for the changes he made.

"We want everybody to know that there is no certainty that you will get your starting spot. There are always younger players coming to take your spot. There are always players who work really hard and fight for the spot on the pitch, and there are players that must realize that it's not easy. They must not be comfortable thinking 'I have my spot'. I'm not worried because everybody deserves to play".

Danish Farooq was roped in by the Blasters on deadline day of the January transfer window. Vukomanovic commented that he was not an immediate option but a longtime target. "Signing Danish and in one moment also losing Puitea. Then you have to anticipate, and it is like finding the missing pieces of the puzzle where we want to have choices. Danish was on our list since last year, and he possess and the mentality that fits perfectly to Kerala Blasters FC".

Ivan Vukomanovic confirmed that Marko Leskovic and Prabhsukhan Gill will not play tomorrow as they are being given time to recover from muscle strain and fever respectively.

In the last weeks, many coaches made comments about how Mumbai City and ATK Mohun Bagan are spending in the market. Ivan wasn't left out as well.

"All the clubs, they have to start producing new players. There is only one small group of players available in the market, and there is a price for them. So, you have to produce something new. If you don't do it, you will only have this small group of players available and there is only one choice: you have to pay for it."

East Bengal are also a team with a large fan following and Ivan Vukomanovic is pleased to see the fans. "Whether we were playing at home or away there's been a crowd, home supporters and away supporters. When we were playing at home we are used to play in front of a huge crowd. When we were playing away, there's always been a couple of 1000s of our fans, and also home fans. Actually our players are used to playing in front of the crowd. Tomorrow, we expect to see a good crowd who want to come and enjoy the game. So whether it's like home or away fans, they're all welcome because we would like to show them a good game that they can enjoy," he concluded.