Some reserves' players are catching my eye: Simon Grayson

Simon Grayson wants Bengaluru FC to cut out the individual mistakes.

Bengaluru FC will be sqauring off against Hyderabad FC on Saturday at the G.M.C Balayogi Athletic Stadium in the search of their first away win in Indian Super League 2023-24. The upcoming match will see the home team, Hyderabad FC entering the contest following a recent 1-1 draw against the Islanders. Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing turn of events, after squandering a two-goal lead and suffering a 3-2 loss to Odisha FC in Bhubaneswar.

Hyderabad FC have won in each of their last four ISL meetings against Bengaluru FC. Thus it will be enthralling to see how Simon Grayson’s team gear up against Thangboi Singto’s squad in pursuit of their first away points of the season.

Before the encounter, Simon Grayson spoke at the pre-match press conference. Excerpts are below:

Thoughts and takeaways from the last game

Simon Grayson highlighted the positives from their last game against Odisha FC and focused on how his team is preparing for best outcomes ahead of their next clash. He said, “We played very very well, especially the first 30 minutes, we totally dominated the game. Scored two very good goals, limited Odisha to hardly a shot on target. And then we just made a couple of mistakes for the second and third goal and the sending off doesn’t help. But overall, you look at the performance, it’s probably the best that we’ve played all season.”

“We can’t get away from the fact that we haven’t had the best results, but the performances haven’t been too bad. If we cut out the individual mistakes we’ve made, the results are going to be a lot more positive. As a coach, I have to analyse the bigger picture of it all. Sometimes in defeat, there are positives and you look forward to the next game. If you lose, but play poorly you’ve got to think a lot harder. There were so many positives the other night,” the tactician added.

Thoughts on playing against Hyderabad FC

Simon Grayson discussed their forthcoming match against the Nizams, stating that the Blues are not prepared to take this match lightly because both teams will be looking for three points.

“We will not be disrespectful of any team in the League. When you look at Hyderabad, they’ve been at the other end of the table and a very difficult team to play in recent seasons. There has been a big change at the club, but they’ve proved in their most recent game that they have quality (with a 1-1 draw against Mumbai),” the coach said.

Grayson further added, “They’ve got certainly some good qualities and we certainly will not be disrespectful to any team so we make sure that we know the strengths, weaknesses. Our preparation from the coaching staff will be as thorough as it has been for the Goa, Odisha, Mohun Bagan and all the games so far. So, another tough game but it’s one that if we perform like we can do and like we did the other night especially, then there’s no reason we can’t get three points. But we have to put all the elements together to make that happen.”

Simon Grayson’s thoughts on team building progress

The coach emphasized how the coach and management are focusing more on the young players and attempting to amalgamate the squad with youthful skills and experience. He said, “One thing we did this summer was to bring some new players but also felt that we were going to give the younger players an opportunity to be around the ISL, and that’s what BFC’s about, developing the youth team programs and then into the first team to see a pathway and so I think it’s 3-4 players who have made the debuts this year, have represented the B team.”

Grayson continued, “The B team (reserves) have done very well, still undefeated in their league and some players in that team are catching my eye who are now training with us and maybe will be a part of the first team squad over the course of the season.”

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