ISL: "Must forget this game and think about the next," said North East coach Khalid Jamil

North East United returned to their disappointing state again after a hopeful win last week. Even though the highlanders were looking lively throughout the entire first half, their missed chances were punished by Jonathas at the 81st minute of the game as Odisha FC moves to the second spot of the Indian Super League 2021-2022. Khaleed Jamil met the press in the post-match conference as the losing coach, which is becoming a recurring theme this season.

Thoughts about the game

Even though North East failed to win against the Kalinga Warriors, they had some definite sparks throughout the match and when asked about his thoughts on the game, he all over sounded more hopeful than disappointed,

"I think that we had a very good first half, everybody worked hard. We didn't hit the target and looking to the second half, there was only one point that we lacked and that is the lack of concentration."

Not converting chances hurt

North East's marquee foreigner Deshorn Brown returned to the starting lineup after his injury but could not mark his arrival with a goal, Matthias Coureur and him both had good chances in front of the goal still failed to capitalize on the opportunities but unlike Deshorn, the gaffer was not too bothered over the missed chances, he sounded more anxious about the hectic schedule they have in front of them. The gaffer told,

"Yeah you can say that but it happens sometimes. Now we have a short time and must forget this game and think about the next game which is very important because we have only two days."

On Deshorn's come back

North East's lacklustre start to the campaign can be blamed on the injury problems they have faced since the start of the season. Even though Deshorn failed to score against Odisha, the return of the main striker in the starting lineup for the Highlanders has put a smile on Khalid Jamil's face, when asked he said,

"Deshorn was very good today. He worked very hard and he came back that is good for us."

Plan for the next game

North East is sitting at the ninth spot on the point table after 5 games only over Goa and East Bengal, Jamil has to come up with a recovery plan against Hyderabad in order to turn around their fate in this campaign, the gaffer was clear that there will be changes in the lineup and possibly game plan against the Nizams this Monday. He said,

"Just we have to do some good recovery and there will be some changes for the team definitely. Maybe we will put new players on the squad, maybe some players we would have to add because cause we have less time to prepare."

Shubhasish's Injury

The injury problem just would not leave North East United this season, Shubhasish Roy Chowdhury, the North East goalkeeper is the latest victim of unfortunate injuries, Khaleed had to start Michu against an on-form Odisha who couldn't keep a clean sheet at the end. Jamil updated the press about the injury sustained by Shubhasish.

"Today Shubhasish was injured in practice and he was not absolutely fit but we missed him because his experience was there."