Des Buckingham: Youngsters have put themselves in extremely good position to play ISL next season

The Mumbai City maestro was in full praise of his all-Indian Hero Super Cup contingent.

Mumbai City FC picked up a 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC in their final match of the Hero Super Cup 2023 group stages on Wednesday, April 20. A first-half goal from young striker Ayush Chhikara was enough to give Des Buckingham's side the win.

Yet, despite the victory, Mumbai got knocked out of the Hero Super Cup – because of NorthEast United finishing the group with same points as them but piping them in the head-to-head record.

Des Buckingham proud of Mumbai’s effort in Hero Super Cup

Despite being knocked out after such a nice win, Des Buckingham was proud of how his Mumbai City side fared in the group stages. He remarked after the game: “Look, we had a lot of things we wanted out of this tournament. From what I saw from three games, we’ve secured a lot of what we wanted. We’re of course disappointed with being knocked out, but from what I’ve seen from the three games, I’m proud of how we’ve played.

“We’ve often said that if we put in the performances, we’ll get the results – which we’ve gotten in the two games. Even in the NorthEast game, I think if we had one of the two penalties that we should’ve had, that would've changed the result. But that wasn’t to be. But I’m pleased with how I’ve seen the team play against a full-strength ISL side like Chennaiyin. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done and it’s a good step not just for now, but for the future too,” he added.

Pleased with youngsters' performances

The Englishman was also generally pleased with the performances of his all-Indian Mumbai City squad for this tournament, especially with some of the youngsters. He explained: “I think not only have the Indian players shown that they can play the style of football that we’ve played throughout the ISL, but they’ve used this evening as a great example of young Halen (Nongdtu) being part of that defence and helping keep a clean sheet.

“Then young Ayush (Chhikara) not only scored his first professional goal, which is wonderful for him and his family, but saw it turn into the winning goal. I’ve always spoken about developing young Indian players since I came to this club and we’ve done that throughout the season. We used this tournament as a platform to help them show what they can do and you have to trust them. I’m so happy with what I’ve seen, not only those two, but those who stepped onto the field,” he further quipped.

Young Mumbai City players to feature in next season’s ISL?

Finally, when asked if fans can expect more of these young players from Mumbai feature in the ISL next season, Des Buckingham stated: “Our team is relatively young anyway. We’re not only in the process of trying to develop youngsters but also future-proof the club. We have good young players here, not just for this year, but to develop to keep playing here for many years.

“The idea was to see how they could do in this tournament. All of them have positioned themselves to push and challenge. They’ve put themselves in an extremely good position to play next season. There are a lot more opportunities for them to come, and if they can continue to show the promise that they’ve done for us this season and across these three games, there’s a lot of bright futures for them – both for us at the club and also for Indian football as a whole,” the mentor finished concluded.