Jamshedpur FC

As Jamshedpur registered a stunning victory against the Highlanders, the Gaffer talks about the spirit shown by the team when trailing, and the impressive performances displayed by the young lads in the squad.

Here are the excerpts from his post-match press conference:

On that match-winning performance…

I'm delighted with the performance. I'm also delighted to get the three points because prior to this game, we had two draws and then we lost to Chennaiyin FC. To be honest, we should have won all three games as we had some big chances to score. Even though Chennaiyin FC got the 3 points, with the performance that we displayed, we probably should have had something from the game if not the win. But we picked ourselves up, showed a reaction as we did when we lost the game against Mumbai and came back to secure a win tonight. We made it difficult for ourselves by conceding the goal in the 90th minute but the character of our team is that we always pick ourselves up and go forward again. Young Ishan Pandita who's been knocking at the door since the last few games had wonderful chances against Kerala Blasters FC, a wonderful chance against Chennaiyin FC and then he popped up with a winner in the final few seconds, so I'm delighted for Ishan. He's such a lovely kid and I said to him that don't ever worry when you're missing chances because you'll keep getting chances. The time to worry as a striker is when you're not getting chances. But Ishan and Jordan scored and I think we could have scored six or seven chances in the back of the net tonight. So we performed really well despite being a goal down, which for me was clearly offside, but we picked ourselves up with numerous chances in the first half and nobody could argue that Jamshedpur FC were worthy of the three points.

On not losing composure after conceding early…

Nobody wants to concede an early goal. I wasn't worried because we were dominating the game, accepting that NorthEast United FC are a dangerous team on the counter-attack. Deshorn Brown, Suhair, Coureur, Imran are all very good players and are very dangerous on their counter-attack. For me, the goal looked offside but our lads picked themselves up, didn't let it affect them, controlled the game and scored that deserved equaliser with some great chances before that goal as well. Of course, we never wanted to be a goal down, but we believed in the process and in ourselves and that was so evident on the pitch. We played three days ago while NorthEast hadn't played a game for over 10 days but on the pitch it seemed like we were the team with the 10 days of rest. The energy, the desire the young lads like Boris, Ishan, Ritwik brought to the pitch was amazing to see. These boys did not get a game in the other teams but we worked with them at Jamshedpur FC, gave them the deserved time on the pitch and now you can see the quality these young lads have.

On Jordan Murray's goal and overall performance…

Jordan Murray has always proven he is an amazing striker and a wonderful player. He was probably our best player in the pre-season games. He picked up an injury that took a little bit of time to recover but Murray against Chennaiyin FC was outstanding as well. Of course, he missed one or two chances but that's the nature of football particularly as a striker. You are in the position to miss chances as well as score chances but you won't score on every opportunity that you recieve. Murray was outstanding against Northeast, and if he hadn't scored the goal or if he hadn't had an assist, I'd be saying the same thing because of the qualities, the work rate and the performance quality that he brings to the team as well as on the pitch. Of course, when you score and assist, then it takes you to an even higher level of performance but I've always been delighted with Jordan Murray. He'll only keep getting better now moving into the second half of the season and there’s no doubt about it.

On Ishan Pandita making an instant impact in the game…

Yeah, I love the kid and that's why I brought him. Of course he knows we've got good strikers but still he's had plenty of minutes and will keep getting his deserved time on the pitch. He is such a great kid and has such a hunger for scoring goals and to help the team. He was a bit disappointed because of the couple of chances he's missed in the previous games but I said to him, forgive yourself and just stay with it, the chances will come, your goals will come and it's great. I mean, particularly how late the goal was and having lost a goal to bounce back again in injury time. And that's what he does. He's a natural goalscorer. I'm still looking to improve his all-round game. If I do that, then I tell you, India is going to have a very good centre-forward for the national team.

On Mobhashir’s first start of the season

I was delighted with Mobashir and what he brought to the game as I was with Jitendra. Mobashir and Jitendra are local kids who have worked very hard. We totally believe in them and they know the trust I have in them. The performances of both Mobashir and Jitendra were outstanding. NorthEast United FC were a tough side and had some very good players on their side but the two lads were terrific in the middle of the park.

Update on TP Rehenesh missing out the game vs Northeast…

He was injured. He rolled his ankle the day after we played Chennaiyin FC. We're doing slight exercises with his ankle currently and I'm hoping that in another 3-4 days, he should fully recover. Obviously Pawan Kumar came in and did very well and young Vishal was on the bench as well, but hopefully for the SC East Bengal game, TP Rehenesh might be available.