Need to work on our away show, says coach Roca

It's not the first time that head coach Albert Roca will be leading his Bengaluru FC into an unknown territory. Last year saw the Spanish tactician mastermind a plan that saw Bengaluru become the first Indian side to reach the AFC Cup final.

Though the Indian Super League is a different ball game for various reasons, the former Barcelona assistant coach is optimistic of his side's chances. In fact, he's already laid down the target. But how does he expect the season to pan out? What could be the challenges? What are his plans? Here are the answers.

Challenges in ISL: Every season brings with it challenges and I don't see why this one will be any different. We've gone into a draft this season and have had to rebuild most of our squad and it's almost as good as starting from scratch. We will be up against teams we have never played against before and we have to get into a rhythm early on.

Difference between ISL the I-league: We haven't played any of the teams in the ISL before and that will be the biggest change from last season. Also, the number of foreign players every team has at their disposal is eight and that could play a big role in how the season pans out for teams. A lot has changed but it's going to be about 90 minutes of football when we set foot on the pitch and that won't change.

Poor record in away games: We did struggle in a few away games last season and that dented our title defence. There were also so many instances of purely poor luck on the road and at home. There's never a sure way to get results away from home but we will have to work on a few aspects that we've made notes on and I'm sure the team will respond to our plans.

Struggling forwards: Yes, we did struggle with our striker situation last season and that hurt us bad. But in Braulio (Nbrega) and Miku we have seasoned strikers who have blended really well with the team. The big positive is that we have both of them much before the season has begun.

The foreign player policy: I've always rolled out a team based on merit so I don't really have to substitute a foreign player with another foreign player. The squad has depth and everyone's fighting hard to earn a start in their position and that's a very encouraging atmosphere to have at a club.