Kerala Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic urged his team to stay positive despite their loss against Odisha FC by 2-1 at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar on Sunday. Harmanjot Singh Khabra opened the scoring for the visitors in the 35th minute.

However, Jerry Mawihmingthanga leveled the score for his team in the 54th minute. Subsequently, Spanish player Pedro Martin put the Kalinga Warriors in front as he scored in the 86th minute of the game.

The tourists could only take three shots on target as they were not at their best. Vukomanovic admitted that the team was not able to repeat their first-half performance in the second half of the game and it led to their downfall.

Vukomanovic said in the post-match press conference, “We predicted today’s game to go ugly, and with both teams fighting over the ball, there were many duels that needed to be won, especially the aerial duels and the second balls. At a particular time in the game, we were pretty good and had everything under control while scoring a goal.”

He added, “In the second half, we did not manage to replicate what we did in the first half by not winning those duels and it put us in a moment of trouble. But even after the first goal that we conceded, we knew what we needed to do and control the situation. It was a very cheap winning goal given away by us, which as a coach, makes you frustrated because there were equal amounts of chances created from both sides tonight. We stay positive no matter what the result was tonight and follow the rule set by the club wherein if we lose or win, we forget all about it the next day and get down to work for the upcoming game.”

Vukomanovic went on to add that they could have defended a bit better and believes the players will need to improve their game going forward.

He said, “If you see the situation that occurred in the first and second half, there were no tactical movements and overloads which would bring a single team into a tough spot. The game, tonight, was fair if you consider the stats and tactics, and it was balanced overall. It was won in moments and different patches by the opposition where they scored the winning goal. We scored the first goal through a set piece and conceded the first goal from a throw-in. While the winning goal we conceded was from a long ball which is again, about the moments in the game. But there was definitely a bit more for us in the game, and on an individual level we need to better ourselves.”

Vukomanovic admitted that the forwards will have to work on their finishing and the team will need to correct their errors in the upcoming matches.

He concluded, “There are a number of aspects in the game which need to be looked into, possession of the ball, pressing, and finishing being a part of it. We created quite a few chances in the previous game and this is the sort of work we need to continue practicing. We are not much concerned and will start working again for the next game while trying to improve the errors.”

Kerala Blasters FC will next take on Mumbai City FC on Friday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi.