Pune, Nov 8 (IANS): Haryana Steelers will look to bounce back against Bengaluru Bulls on Wednesday in vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 after giving a tough fight to three-time champions Patna Pirates at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex here.

Vinay and Manjeet put on a good show on the mat as the Steelers went down against the Pirates in a close contest.

Despite the loss, Vinay, who earned a late three-point super raid in the previous game that almost turned the tide of the match, expressed confidence that Steelers will make their efforts count on Wednesday and are confident about doing a double over Bengaluru Bulls.

"I got a lot of confidence after picking up points with that super raid. It gave me the feeling that I can do better in this game and the upcoming matches as well," Vinay said.

"I wasn't afraid of anything before the match. I was only focused on applying my skills. There was a little bit of hesitation about whether I would be successful or not. I have not played too many games this season and this was a great start," he added.

Haryana Steelers have already registered a victory against Bengaluru Bulls this season and will look to use that confidence to repeat the performance in the next match. The Steelers had defeated Bulls by 29-27 in a close contest where Meetu scored a total of nine points.

"Once you are able to achieve something, then it always feels easier to do it again. So, I feel the opposition team will be under pressure going into the match," Vinay said.

"Our defence is really strong and we will work on it. We will apply our raider whenever it is necessary and will look to slow down the pace of the match to assist our defence," he added.

In their previous encounter, Steelers did well to counter the dual threat of Bharat and Vikash Kandola who were kept out of the mat for most of the match. Vinay insisted that the team will try to apply the same strategy as it will open the doors for them to get the win again.

"We will tackle the opponent after identifying their weakness. In our previous match, we did not let Bharat score a lot of points. He just registered a few points because we were at ease due to our lead in the match. Our strategy will be to keep him outside the mat as much as possible and our corners have to be active to stop him," he said.

"It will not be easy to tackle Vikash Kandola as he is a very good player. However, if we stick to our plan then we will again have a chance to stop him," Vinay concluded.