Calcutta: Just like any other team, home is where the heart is for Atletico de Kolkata (ATK), too.

With the last-four berths in ISL-II still up for grabs, there's a bit of relief for ATK as they play all of their last four group-phase matches at home, the first of which is versus the bottom-ranked Chennaiyin FC, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Wednesday.

For sure, Antonio Lopez Habas and his wards can afford to breathe a tad easy at present, thanks to the home leg. But honestly, ATK have been far from impressive at home.

Of the three home ties they have played so far, ATK lost twice. One may point fingers at the below-standard ground conditions of the Salt Lake Stadium as it certainly created difficulties for visiting teams as well. ATK were also bogged down because of injuries to some of the regular players.

But the crux of the matter lies in the fact that the holders haven't played good football at all here. They did get the rewards in their first home match, against Kerala Blasters, and ground conditions were no better in that game. Thereafter, in the contests against Delhi Dynamos and NorthEast United FC, Habas's men had come a cropper, to be precise.

"We can't look for excuses," Habas made it clear on the match eve. "We just cannot cite ground conditions as an excuse because we have had our share of practice sessions at this ground... Can't just keep on complaining..."

The required urgency, though, was visible in the last two matches, yielding four points that enabled them to remain in contention for the semi-finals.

In a nutshell, there's plenty to play for and if ATK are consistent and can take the positives of their previous two games into the encounter against Chennaiyin and the following matches, they will have every reason to make the grade.

The scenario appears brighter for ATK now that marquee man Helder Postiga is back to training, while Habas also has the option of selecting Serb Dejan Lekic, who has arrived for a month from Spanish club Eibar. As for Postiga, Habas is still in two minds about keeping the Portuguese in the scheme of things.

"We are still evaluating the possibilities of Postiga's availability," said the Spaniard. "He is training with the group, but maybe he needs another three days or so to get back to full shape and fitness," Habas added.

Whether Lekic, who could be part of the XI on Wednesday, clicks for ATK remains to be seen, but there's no denying that his inclusion will reduce the workload on Iain Hume.

Be it scoring or playing the role of a playmaker, Hume had to do almost everything single-handedly when it came to leading ATK's attack. And mind you, Hume hasn't complained one bit.

In fact, Chennaiyin could well be the ideal opposition to include Lekic in the team because defensively, the visitors have been way below par. Barring Bernard Mendy, who's obviously upset with the turn of events last Friday in Paris, other Chennaiyin defenders have found the going extremely difficult so far.

That said, Chennaiyin's position in the league table isn't quite a fair reflection of the overall quality of the side. They have in their ranks players of the calibre of Elano - even though he hasn't been at his best yet - and Stiven Mendoza, while Balwant Singh, Thoi Singh, Dhanachandra Singh and Gilberto Oliviera (coming on loan as a replacement for the injured Dhanpal Ganesh) are among the Indian players to have made a mark for their respective clubs.

Also, Harmanjyot Singh Khabra is back after serving a one-match ban and India's World Cup qualifier versus Guam. No wonder his availability will lend more options to Marco Materazzi.

Form and performance wise, ATK are certainly ahead of Chennaiyin. But all said and done, Chennaiyin are already pushed to the brink and have nothing much to lose.

So, could this be their occasion to land the defending champions with a severe blow? Habas and Co. need to keep that in mind...