We cannot afford to rotate squad: Cuadrat

With just three games remaining and three teams fighting for the coveted top spot in the Indian Super League, Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat remarked that he can ill-afford to rotate his squad in the battle for the AFC Champions League spot.

Currently third behind FC Goa and ATK, the defending champions will next take on Chennaiyin FC, the most in-form team and themselves making a late charge to the playoff spot, on Sunday.

"We cannot afford to rotate because we want to fight for the Champions League slot and for the playoff," said Cuadrat during a press conference on Friday.

"The points that we lost (at the beginning of the season), nobody is going to give it back. But that is the competition. We just have to try to improve. At the end of the league, the top team has to be the one who gets the Champions League."

With the AFC Cup commitment also keeping them busy, this is a key moment for the club in the season and the Spanish tactician is looking forward to a tough clash against the Chennai side.

Since taking over the club at the beginning of December, Owen Coyle has orchestrated a great turnaround and his team is currently on a four-game winning streak in which they have scored 15 goals.

"They are in a positive mode and fighting for the playoff also. But our goal is also to fight for our objectives. We will go for the three points and we can expect a good, tough game. It's clear that with the new coach they have another kind of spirit.

"He has made them into a team who scores a lot of goals so it will be interesting, a team who scores a lot against a team who defends very well," Cuadrat observed.