Chennaiyin FC set for pre-season in Ahmedabad, Jamshedpur

Chennai, Aug 29 (IANS) Two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Chennaiyin FC (CFC) are all set for a four-week long pre-season camp, commencing on September 1 in Ahmedabad.

Head Coach John Gregory and majority of the CFC squad, including all the summer signings, are scheduled to convene in Ahmedabad directly. They will begin preparations for the 2019-20 season promptly and will be using the training facility at Adani Shantigram.

After two weeks of intensive training, Chennaiyin play their first pre-season friendly against Ahmedabad's ARA FC at The Arena by Transstadia on September 15.

Ahmedabad will be CFC's base only till September 20, with the team thereafter traveling to Jamshedpur for the final leg of their pre-season schedule. Chennaiyin's opponents and dates for pre-season friendlies in Jamshedpur will be confirmed at a later date.

Midfielder Anirudh Thapa will join up with the CFC squad following his assignment with the Indian team, that will be playing the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Oman and Qatar on September 5 and September 10 respectively.

"We're really looking forward to hitting the ground running with the fantastic mix of old and new faces in the squad. It's a period to put in the hard yards and prepare for the new season. I must say we're already looking forward to coming back home to Chennai after our pre-season camp for the final few weeks before our first ISL game of the campaign!" commented head coach John Gregory.

The entire Chennaiyin squad is scheduled to return to Chennai on October 1. CFC are set to continue their preparations on home soil ahead of the new ISL campaign, that commences with a trip to FC Goa on October 23 before back-to-back home games against Mumbai City FC and ATK on October 27 and October 30 respectively.