NorthEast United FC dropped crucial two points on Thursday as their match against Chennaiyin FC ended in a 3-3 draw.

The Highlanders are currently placed at the fifth spot in the ISL table with 27 points, which is equal to that of FC Goa and Hyderabad FC placed at the fourth and third spots respectively.

There are only two games to go in the League stage and every point is crucial considering how close five of the top seven teams are to each other now. NorthEast head coach Khalid Jamil understands that fully and he said that a lapse in concentration resulted in the draw this time. However, at the same time, he is happy that they made a strong recovery in the game.

“You can say lack of concentration (as a reason for the draw) but we came back and that is a good point,” Jamil said.

“I don’t have any doubt. All the boys worked very hard.”

“Chennaiyin played better but even we tried. It was our plan to play defensively then go for the counter, then in second-half, we tried for five minutes, we put Idrissa Sylla on. But sometimes this happens,” Jamil said.

He also said that the team missed Federico Gallego’s creativity in the midfield and he will try to get him back into the XI in the next match.

“We definitely miss Gallego. We will try to play him in the next match. It will be better for us,” he added.

Jamil also shared his thoughts about the next game and their current position in the points table.

“We are never thinking about the remaining games. We are thinking about playing against East Bengal which is a good side. So we have to give our best.”

“This is a big challenge. We are playing against a good team in the next game. So we must think about the next game. We can do much better.”