We made some individual mistakes, notes Stephen Constantine

The Kolkata-based club suffered its eighth defeat of the season.

Stephen Constantine's East Bengal FC ended up as the losers in their recent Indian Super League (ISL) clash with Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar on Saturday. The scoreline at the end read 3-1 in the favour of the hosts despite the visitors taking an early lead courtesy of Cleiton Silva.

Individual errors cost the Red & Gold Brigade dearly and Stephen Constantine agreed while speaking to the reporters during the post-match press conference. Here are the excerpts from the conversation:

Individual mistakes were costly

The biggest reason behind East Bengal FC’s ISL defeat was the individual errors made by the players. The English tactician spoke about this while offering his analysis of the match. “We made some individual mistakes. Obviously, Lalchungnunga got beat at the corner, you don’t want that to happen. The second goal was a complete fluke. We get a goal with eight minutes left and it is disallowed. I have been told by the tv people that it was absolutely onside.” Stephen Constantine explained

“We have had many decisions go against us the whole season. We are making too many individual mistakes and it is costing us,” the head coach added.

Need a miracle for the top six

Stephen Constantine believes that it will take a miracle for EBFC to make it into the playoffs. He said, “I said when I first came here, getting in the top six would take a miracle. It is still the case. There are 24 points left to play, while we are mathematically in with a chance, we will fight in every game and try every opportunity to get three points. Our target will be three points (in the next game).”

Injury concerns

To add salt to the wounds, two EBFC players picked up injuries during the defeat in ISL. While Himanshu Jangra got stretchered off, Cleiton Silva developed a hamstring issue during the game. Talking about both players, Constantine said, “He (Himanshu) has had a bad knock on his ankle, I don’t know how serious it is. That is another player, clearly a foul, out I don’t know for how long.”

“Cleiton (Silva) went down, he was feeling a bit tight in his hamstring. We could have kept him in and then make things worse,” he said while explaining the decision to substitute the Brazilian in the late stages of the match.