After a disappointing end to their debut Hero Indian Super League (ISL) season, where they fell short at the final hurdle against Chennaiyin FC, Bengaluru FC will be charged up to add the Hero Super Cup trophy to their cabinet. They will face Gokulam Kerala FC in the pre-quarter final fixture at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, where they clearly stand out as the favourites to win. Bengaluru had been the most dominant team in the Hero ISL, with their custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu also grabbing eyeballs due to his scintillating displays. Ahead of Sunday’s clash, supercup.in caught up with the 26-year old to find out his views about the competition. Here are the excerpts.

Are you feeling confident ahead of your first Hero Super Cup match?

To be honest, we are not taking anyone lightly. Yes, we have to be confident in ourselves, but every single opponent here is good. We need to see Gokulam FC as a good opponent and we respect them. Our focus is to win the game, that’s it.

Tell us about the nature of a knockout game as compared to a league game.

I think in knockout games you have to give everything every single time. In league games, you know that you have another game coming up where you can rectify your mistakes and put up another performance. In knockout stages, you need to be sure that what you are doing is perfect and try to get a result.

What are your thoughts on coming back to Bhubaneswar?

I think it’s an amazing facility. We played here in the past as well and they have an amazing crowd. The facilities provided here are amazing. So I see no reason why we can’t have a good result over here.

How important is it for the club to win this competition?

It was a sad thing for us to not win the ISL, but it’s football and it happens. We just need to look forward to another challenge and the Super Cup is exactly that.