ISL 2017-18: Took advantage of ATK's situation as we looked upon this game as an opportunity, says Jamshedpur coach

JAMSHEDPUR FC emerged as winners against ATK on Sunday and now sit at the fifth place behind FC Goa with 19 points.

Coach Steve Coppell at the post match press conference, said,

"First and foremost, it was a difficult situation for ATK, with the injuries they have with the international players. The international players give the team solidity and to be one international player down, it does make a difference. They obviously played only three days ago. It’s my one complaint about the Hero ISL. The scheduling of the games is a critical factor in the result because if you don’t have long to prepare, then it’s hard."

Further talking about the situation, he said,

"I must admit, we looked upon this game as an opportunity, and looking at our season, if we had not won today, then chances would have been difficult for us to be prominent towards the end of the season, in regards to getting in the playoffs. This has just given us that little bit of flip because the top four teams seem to be winning games comfortably."

He also said that the race for top four has only become tough,

"You look at the table, and at the moment, the top teams look like they could get 28-30 points easily. So, that puts a lot of pressure on ourselves and you need to win games when you have the opportunity."

Talking about their goalscorer Trindade, he said,

"Trindade was a force going forward all night; running at defenders. In the end, a very coolly taken penalty won the game for us."

He concluded by talking about his side's next fixture against Mumbai City,

"That is another tough game. Big prize for either team. Mumbai’s result against Goa was a terrific result; to go to Goa and win. A lot of respect to Mumbai for doing that. It’ll be a good game next week I hope. Goa played two games less than us. So, they are in a good position and they are still very fluid going forward. But next week’s game against Mumbai is a very important one for both sides."

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