"Edwin is very, very happy to be a part of Chennaiyin FC" – John Gregory

Chennai, October 29, 2019: Chennaiyin FC Head Coach John Gregory reserved special praise and mention for new signing Edwin Vanspaul during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday ahead of the clash with ATK. 27-year-old Edwin from Neyveli township in Tamil Nadu joined the club at the end of last season, after winning the 2018-19 I-League title with Chennai City FC. And if Edwin’s first two outings with CFC in the 2019-20 Hero ISL are anything to go by, he seems to be settling in pretty quickly according to his coach.

“Edwin has settled in very quickly with us. He’s a lovely kid, a hard worker. I think he’s very, very happy to be a part of our club. He’s enjoying playing in the ISL,” said Gregory.

CFC slumped to a 3-0 defeat away at FC Goa in their opener, but Edwin was one of the bright sparks in an otherwise frustrating outing. Three days later, the versatile right-back helped his side keep a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw against Mumbai City FC in CFC’s first home game of the campaign. 

“Edwin’s getting accustomed to our style of play but the mileage that he is putting in is incredible. He runs from box to box, joins in with the attack as well. He’s doing really well, he’s very popular in the dressing room as well as on the city’s terraces. Everything is positive and going in the right direction with him,” the CFC gaffer added.

Gregory is hopeful that the Indian national team coach Igor Stimac took notice of Edwin’s display, the latter watching on from the stands in both of the club’s games so far in Goa and Chennai. “He (Stimac) would’ve seen two solid 90-minute performances from him (Edwin). We hope he gets called up to the national side soon,” opined Gregory.

Gregory shared that having fellow local lad Dhanpal Ganesh has also helped Edwin immensely in settling into the dressing room at CFC. “Having (Dhanpal) Ganesh in the squad is a good thing too for him (Edwin), much like the camaraderie between (Anirudh) Thapa and Germanpreet (Singh). They’re even teaching us some of the Tamil bad words! (laughs),” joked Gregory before signing off.