Sanjoy Sen praises players' effort, doesn't deny AFC Cup defeat may be blessing in disguise

MOHUN BAGAN COACH Sanjoy Sen praised Tampines Rovers for putting up a well-composed performance and beating Mohun Bagan 1-2 at Guwahati in the AFC Cup pre-quarter final tie.

Speaking to journalists after the match, Sen said,

"They kept their shape even after going down to 10 men. They had their strategy right and in the end won the match as the better team."

The Mariners had lifted their 14th Federation Cup title on the same ground on Saturday. Sen said that some players were tired and struggled with injuries due to the intense schedule,

"Fatigue and injuries played a part. Jeje, Raju, Glen and many others were nursing some injuries. Some of them played this game through sheer will. Bikramjit Singh has played all of the last 4 games, and after today's injury he finished the game practically standing."

Mohun Bagan were missing 2 of their most prolific attackers in Sony Norde and Katsumi Yusa, while Debjit Majumder, Pritam Kotal and Pronay Halder missed the match due to injuries. To make up for their absence Sen had to fly in 3 more players on an emergency basis. The Bagan coach said that he was happy with the effort put in by the players,

"The replacement players flew in from Kolkata and had to take to the pitch within a day. That's never easy. But they tried their level best. They created more chances and after Bikramjit's goal we thought it was our game but they did well to fight till the end."

However, the coach who has won the I-League and the Federation Cup with Mohun Bagan over the last two seasons, said he was not using these disadvantages as an excuse, and promised to try harder to win the AFC Cup next season if given a chance.

But when a reporter asked him if losing this match was a 'blessing in disguise' for Mohun Bagan, a visibly disappointed Sen could not deny it,

"Maybe, maybe... I was wondering about this. Had we won we would have had a tough time in the latter stages because many of the players would be away at ISL. In the past when Dempo and East Bengal went far in the AFC Cup ISL wasn't around... I don't want to say too much about this. You are seeing everything, and can judge for yourself."