The Boss Discussed A Narrow Defeat In The Maldives…

On another tough game for the Blues in the Maldives…

It was difficult conditions for us to play here, because of the surface, the kind of grass. You see that we tried to have the control of the ball but we were missing a lot of balls in the construction (of our attack). For us, it’s very difficult because the kind of grass we have Kanteerava, it’s very different from what we have here. So, we lost a few balls, and they took advantage of the second balls with good counter-attacks. It’s always difficult for us to play in this country. The last time we lost 2-0 to New Radiant, and today as well it wasn’t good enough for us. We were trying to get at least a draw, but it was not happening.

On bouncing back in the second leg…

Well, we’re playing at home with our supporters. We will try to keep going in the competition, but it’s going to be difficult because Maziya defend very well and they are going to try to stop us from scoring. We know that with a 1-0 win we are going to the next round, so we’ll try to win at Kanteerava.

On rotations in the squad ahead of ISL Play-Offs and the second leg…

We have a full squad, but we will make some rotations and be ready for the two games. With Sunil, I think he’s going to be available for the next game.