Aidy Boothroyd: I want the season to keep going

The Jamshedpur FC head coach was delighted with the youngsters grasping their chances

Jamshedpur FC beat Odisha FC 2-0 in their final group stage campaign of the Indian Super League 2022-23 campaign. Goals in rapid succession from Harry Sawyer and Ritwik Das handed Aidy Boothroyd's side a confidence-boosting win.

This extended the Red Miners' unbeaten run to four matches, with three wins and a draw to close out the season. Jamshedpur FC climb above East Bengal into ninth, with the Kolkata Derby being the last league game for the Red and Gold brigade.

Post-match thoughts after OFC vs JFC

Aidy Boothroyd spoke after the victory against Odisha. On finishing the season on a positive note and the impressive displays of Pronay Halder and Nikhil Barla, the coach said, "People are talking about the last four games but for me the last 10 games have been a huge corner we’ve turned. I can appreciate the fact that when we lost our captain, Pronay comes in and is magnificent like he’s played there all career.

"The same for young Nikhil, 17 years old and he’s making his ISL debut, great for him. It's a good opportunity to be able to call upon younger players, to blood them, and give them their chance. We’ve not got (Rafael) Crivellaro, we’ve not got TP (Rehenesh) and Eli (Sabia) so it’s some good depth we have in our squad."

Players taking their opportunities

Odisha FC needed a solitary point against Jamshedpur to qualify for the playoffs, but were thwarted at home by the spirited Jamshedpur FC. Aidy Boothroyd's side are slowly gaining the reputation of being hard to beat, and the coach spoke about the reverse fixture and how it was all down to the players to get revenge, "We know all about Odisha don’t we? Impressed that we kept a clean sheet. We got slapped in the first game of the season after all the monsoon partying, going 2-0 up and all of a sudden you are down 3-2 in the second half.

"That was a tough game to take, hopefully tonight’s result and performance after making some changes to the playing style and how we train, what we do. It all comes down to the players, we’ve given them the opportunity and they have taken it."

Lack of accuracy in front of goal

Jamshedpur FC have created the third-most chances in the league so far this season, but have only 21 goals, the second-lowest, to show for this season. Aidy Boothroyd talked about finding a different style of play for the Super Cup, "When you’ve been in here long enough, you know when you are in trouble and when you’re not.

"When you look at the stats, three games we have 70 shots and at some time you are hoping that you will score, thankfully we did that tonight. We’ve had to find a different style of play but overall I am excited about the games coming up and want the season to keep going."

Support of the fans, staff and Chief Executive

With just five wins from 20 games, Jamshedpur's defence of the ISL Shield did not go to plan for Aidy Boothroyd. The coach stressed that he has the support of the staff and chief executive, and is focusing on the transfers next, "You’ve got to respect the supporters and the people that pay your wages but I 100% have the unwavering support of the supporters, staff and chief executive.

"It’s a point where we’re getting players in and out and I think we deserved to get where we got. It’s not where we wanna be, but a good start. We are creating chances and starting to keep clean sheets."