Simon Grayson: In a competition like this, there's never going to be any easy games

The Blues coach was present in the pre-match press conference with newly-capped international Rohit Kumar.

Bengaluru FC were on the receiving end of a heartbreaking outcome in the Indian Super League 2022-23 final. Having arrived at the decider on a nine-match unbeaten streak and a two-legged win over League Shield winners Mumbai City FC, The Blues went down 4-3 on penalties after the final ended 2-2.

The Durand Cup winners began the league season in poor form but looked unstoppable once they got on a run of victories. They will be looking to carry the momentum onto the Hero Super Cup, and have been placed in a tricky group A with Kerala Blasters, I-League winners RoundGlass Punjab and runners-up Sreenidi Deccan. Ahead of their tournament opener against Sreenidi, coach Simon Grayson and Rohit Kumar were present in the press conference. Here is what they had to say.

Confidence levels heading into the third tournament of the season

Bengaluru FC will be keen to outdo the disappointment of a finals loss by ending the season on a high. Simon Grayson says that his side is feel refreshed and training, " I think it's another competition that we want to try and do as best that we can do.

"And that's been our intentions with the Durand Cup, the ISL, we got to both the finals, as you mentioned, and this one will be no different. The big thing about this competition is that there's a qualifying spot in the Asian competitions.

"We want to pick up from where we left with the momentum and the quality that we had at the back end of the season. The ISL final wasn't to be for us on penalties, but unfortunately, that happens in times. But yeah, I think we're refreshed. "Players have had some time off, players have been home, players have been in India, players have gone back to the countries, the foreign boys.

And to be fair, the players have been very good in training. The tempo has been good, the attitude has been really good. And everybody's really focused on trying to win another five more matches to have a shot at a place in the Asia Cup."

Recovering from the ISL finals defeat

Bengaluru FC showed the mentality of a winning team even in the final, bouncing back from a goal down to lead 2-1 with a quarter of a game to go. However one penalty converted by Petratos in the dying minutes rescued the Mariners, who went on to win the penalty shootout. Rohit Kumar picks the learnings from his harsh experience, "As a team and as a player we were disappointed because from where we came, we wanted to win.

"But it's football, you can't win everything. But at the end of the day, we move on and we learn from what we did and we were proud that we had a remarkable season with the team. Then after that, the next day I have to go to the camp.

I was disappointed, obviously, I was thinking about ISL final and it was going on my mind and then when I saw Manvir and Pritam in the camp, obviously it feels weird, But yeah, from them it is a learning for us and now we are focusing on the Super Cup to win."

Grayson added, "I think from my perspective it was basically throughout the experiences I have been in positions before as a player, as a coach was to tell the players how well they've done, but you also use the disappointment as a motivation for the super cup and next season as well that we don't want to see teams celebrating in front of us.

"It's not a nice feeling and we were fully complimentary to ATK Mohun Bagan and respectful of what they did, but obviously we wanted to make sure that we're ready for next time and I think it was good the players were able to get away from the area each other and go see the family and friends. The bonus I suppose was the international boys went away to a camp and they were focused on trying to win a tournament and it was great for Rohit to make his debut for the international team.

"I think there was lots of good points to come out of it. But from a coach's perspective, the first thing you want to see is when the players come back into training, have they got a spring in their step, have they still got that hangover of disappointment? And I can be honestly truthful and say that doesn't look like it. There's actually extra motivation to go on and do well in the next few games, hopefully, get some more silverware."

Facing a new challenge in Sreenidi Deccan

The side that came closest to challenging RoundGlass Punjab for the crown, Sreenidi are a quality I-League team who can pack a surprise. Grayson spoke on his latest opponents, "Yeah, look, I think first and foremost we will be concentrating on how we play, the attitude and the performances we had.

"We want to play exactly the same sort of way. Yes, it is easy to watch the ISL games on TV and other formats, but we've still been able to do enough research from watching I-League games, from speaking to the coaches within the I-League.

"My analyst and other coaching staff have been speaking to the clubs, so we try to get as much information on both them and RoundGlass Punjab as well who won the league as well. So, yeah, we will be as prepared as we can be going into these games.We don't know 100% about them like I would a lot of the ISL teams, but we have done a lot of research and work on them already."

Update on Ashish Jha and Wungngayam Muirang

Bengaluru FC's new January signing Ashish Jha has featured on the bench in the ISL, and has been in decent form in the second division. Muirang has not been a regular in the matchday squad since picking up an injury, Grayson provided an update on the two players, "Well, Ashish, who we signed in January, I think it was January, impressed us in a game.We played a reserve game against them and we decided that it was worth taking a little bit of a punt on somebody who's a little bit raw, but he's got some good attributes as well. But we see him more as a winger, an attacking player rather than part of a defender.

"But I'm sure he can adapt to playing different positions.He won't be with us this weekend because we've got our squad that's going to be starting on the bench, but he's in the squad if we need to call him up. We have a preseason coming up now and to see if he is ready for the ISL next year and the Durand Cup to have a lot closer look at. But he trained with the first team a lot, and we do think he's got something, but he's a bit raw and something to work with."

"I think Muirang, like a lot of players, didn't get a lot of game time because the team had done really well. Then he got injured and was out for a number of weeks, which meant that he was behind in fitness with everybody at the back end of the season and that's why he's been playing in the B team games recently, to get his fitness up.

"Regarding his future, we'll assess all that over the next few weeks after the end of the Super Cup. Look, like any football club, this is a generalization. There will be new players coming into the football club when there will be players leaving the football club.

"We've got a lot of players that maybe not had a lot of game time, both different types of age groups that maybe need to go out and get the career started or go out on loan, or just to do something which maybe results in leaving the football club. So we'll assess that with everybody come the end of the Super Cup.

Will Alan Costa be a miss in defence

Brazilian defender Alan Costa will sign with his parent club Avai after completing his loan spell. Grayson mentioned that he has players to fill his boots, "I think Alan has played a big part for this football club, but we've had other people that have stepped into the team and done very well.

"We saw Bruno play in the final and do very well when Alan had been aware to be with his family. And we've got Parag, who's versatile, Aleks, Sandesh, obviously, and we've got young Robin as well, who's going to be part of the squad for the Super Cup. He's been doing very well at the Santosh Trophy.

"So, yeah, he will be a miss, but we have to be respectful that his wife had just been at a difficult childbirth and he had the opportunity to be recalled back by his parent club and signed a new contract there. So we're thankful for everything that Alan did and we wish him all the success in the future, both personally and professionally."

Assessing the chances with a tough group

Group A is one of the more intriguing of the lot, with the two highly ranked I-League clubs partnering old foes Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters. Grayson said, "I think it's one of the harder ones in the tournament. It is a tough group, but they're all tough. You could be playing in one of the groups that have three ISL teams, so that doesn't make it any easier.

"But when you get to a competition like this, there's never going to be any easy games. And whatever's thrown in front of us, we have to play to the best of our capabilities, work harder than the opposition, play better than the opposition, and hopefully we can come out on top in the majority of them games. But we certainly know it's not going to be easy."

AFC Cup slot a motivating factor

The Super Cup winners will seal an AFC Cup slot, a tournament BFC are desperate to return to and play. Grayson said, "Yeah, I think it's a big motivation. It was part of the conversation when we went to the coaches forum in Mumbai before the season started about what the Super Cup would entail. And there's lots of discussion that if it was just a normal competition with at the end of it, it would probably be a waste of time because nobody would have any real motivation in it.

"But now there's that slot, it gives everybody a massive motivation and you see, already Mumbai has qualified, so I don't expect them to have their strongest squad for the other players that are not available for other teams. So we've got to treat this as if it's potentially five cup finals to try and get that slot. That's our sole ambition.We've always said that every competition that we're involved in, we want to do the best that we can, and we've proved that this year we get into two finals.