ATK will face against Delhi Dynamos in the quarterfinal of the ongoing Super Cup at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, on Friday.
The head coach of the Kolkata-based outfit, Steve Coppell, expects a competitive game against their counterparts from Delhi after a 3-1 win over Real Kashmir in the Round of 16.
"We have had two really good games against Delhi [Dynamos] this season. Throughout the course of the season, they have played some really good football and perhaps haven't had the results that they deserved. So I know that it will be a very competitive game and we look forward to the match," said the Englishman.
"We played Delhi in the last game of the [ISL] season. It was a close game. We just about edged it, but realistically it could have gone either way. So I'm sure tomorrow (Friday) will be equally as competitive," he added.
Asked to differentiate the kind of challenge Delhi Dynamos bring to the field as compared to Real Kashmir, Coppell replied, "They are more or less the exact opposites. Delhi plays a possession-based style of football with pace up front. Kashmir plays a difficult style to play against.
We won it (against Real Kashmir) in the last 10 minutes but the real work was done in the previous 70. We were trying to keep the ball as much as possible, making them work hard to try and win the ball back. They were still dangerous because they are big and physical, and that's been successful for them this year," he continued.
"It just proves that in football, there is not just one formula for success. Whichever style you play, you have to play with commitment. Tomorrow you will see two teams both committed to try and get into the semi-final stage of this tournament," stated the former Manchester United winger.
Steve Coppell has particularly paid attention to Delhi Dynamos' wing play while formulating his game-plan.
"It's a challenge to play against them because they look to get the forwards on the ball as much as possible. They look to get the ball behind your defence because they have very quick wide players and that's a very big threat. To play against them, we have to understand what they are doing and stop it before imposing our game on them.
"We need to get ourselves in good attacking situations. We need to make them defend because they have shown in the past to be a little bit vulnerable defensively. But they are a very attractive team to watch," he concluded.
Meanwhile, Delhi Dynamos have made it to the final eight of the 2019 Super Cup without even playing a match as Gokulam Kerala and East Bengal did not turn up on the pitch in the qualifiers and the pre-quarterfinals respectively.
Speaking ahead of the tie against ATK, Delhi assistant Mridul Banerjee commented, "We were out of action for three weeks. To keep our dream of winning the Super Cup, we have to win tomorrow. From a strategical point of view, we have prepared ourselves with our tactics."