Ivan Vukomanovic provides details about Sandeep Singh's injury

The Kerala Blasters boss said that his side committed too many mistakes in the first half.

Kerala Blasters lost their ISL 2022-23 away fixture to FC Goa by a scoreline of 3-1. Ivan Vukomanovic’s boys failed to dominate the game as they conceded two goals in the first half itself. However, they showed a good performance in the second half. Dimitrios Diamantakos gave hope for KBFC before Redeem Tlang made it three for the hosts. 

Impact of Leskovic's absence

Ivan Vukomanovic said that the two consecutive losses have nothing to do with the absence of Marko Leskovic. He also said that every player in the team should respond in these kinds of matches.

"No, I don't think so. I think that we have enough players who have to respond to the task to play the games. I think whoever is not there speaking about whenever we say starting 11, the players always must be ready to jump in, whoever is on the pitch or on the bench. So, I don't think so and I'll never be the coach who says we are missing one or two players then it's completely different. I think it's kind of football that you have to accept to play and you have to deal and you have to know.”

“Before every match, there will be injuries, suspensions from cards or whatever, and you have to deal with those things. I think in the last two games we committed so many individual mistakes, which is unacceptable. Especially when you play against top teams from this league you have to deal with it. And you cannot make these individual mistakes because it always leads to conceding goals. You have to be focused, concentrated, disciplined, committed and I think that these kinds of mistakes, especially in the first half, cost us the points today. And now, it is not pleasant when you lose two games back to back. We have to deal with all these situations again,” he added.

Consecutive losses will upset the rhythm of the team?

The mentor said that the team will think about this match tonight and will forget about it tomorrow since their job is not done yet. He said that he is not happy with the team's performance in the first half but they have done better in the second.

“No, I don’t think so. As a coach, I always have this gear. Today’s game in mind, will think about it tonight and when you sleepover, tomorrow morning there is analysis and other things, then we have to forget it because it's past. We have to think about next steps because this is football. There are three games in 10 days. So there is no time to think about it. The way we played the first half, I was not happy. This was not the way we wanted to play. This was not the way that the team actually needs to play in the playoffs.”

He added, “I was furious and then in the second half we showed the way we wanted to play. And that's the way we wanted to play if we wanted to participate in the playoffs. Football reality and football honesty is being ready for the games. Be ready to respond to these kinds of games especially because Fatorda is never easy. So now we have six games till the end. We have to play the second half without any regret."

Do you think home advantage will be a crucial factor in playoff games?

Ivan Vukomanovic said that it doesn't matter whether Kerala Blasters play home or away matches. According to him, what matters is how a team prepares for a game. The team should be focused and concentrated while playing to get better results. 

“No, I don't think so. Because you have to get ready for the game whether it's home or away. This year we managed to win both home and away games. So, it's just the momentum and detail of how you prepare for the game, how you are concentrated, how you are ready to play these kinds of games with full potential, and that will bring results. Doesn't matter whether you play home or away.”

About Sandeep Singh’s injury

The head coach said that Sandeep is badly injured and he is under examination. 

“He has a big and deep wound on his head. He is currently in the hospital to get some stitches. I was sorry for him. It happened at the end of the game. But we have to deal with all these things.”