Would get reinforcements if given choice, admits Robbie Fowler after second defeat

The Englishman also stressed that fitness is not a problem for the SC East Bengal squad.

Mumbai City FC registered a convincing 3-0 win over Kolkata giants SC East Bengal in the Indian Super League on Tuesday, courtesy of a brace from Adam le Fondre and a solitary goal from Hernan Santana.  While the win helped the Islanders go top of the table, the Red and Gold Brigade faced their second consecutive defeat in the league. Following the game, SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler interacted in the post-match press conference.

Robbie Fowler looked displeased with his side’s lackluster performance against Mumbai City FC. “Some of the Indian players look like they have never been coached before,” he began. "I’m devastated by the result and I hope the players feel the same. I would like to get reinforcements all over the park, if given choice. It is what it is and I have to work with it,” he added.

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The Liverpool legend was questioned about whether the lack of a quality overseas striker is hurting the team, to which he answered, “No, not really. We are playing football okay, would like to have one quality striker, but we have not got one. We are playing with what we’ve got and there are no excuses in what we are trying to do. We were not outclassed by anyone, but the individual errors have cost us.”

The Red and Gold received very little time to prepare for the 2020-21 season, which has evidently left a void in the fitness of the players. Speaking about it, Robbie Fowler assured that the level of fitness is not of "concern" to his team.

“No, the fitness level is not a concern. We work hard as a team, but we know we are behind everyone in our preparation. What has happened here I’ve not seen in the 11 players' game before. We get sloppy at the end of the game, a little bit tiredness. It’s not an excuse and our fitness levels are very good," he stated.

The Englishman gave an update on Danny Fox’s injury and hinted about a possible change of formation in the upcoming games. “We haven’t got a clue yet. We will look to find it out tomorrow. In these types of injuries at the start of the game, a knock, we will assess him tomorrow. Formation-wise we are open to everything. We’ve got players who can play in few positions. We will work on the training part, we know what we need to do to try and get the results. We will work through our aptitude in training,” the 45-year-old said.

Surchandra Singh, predominantly a winger and wide midfielder, played as a right wing-back against Mumbai City FC. However, the head coach was quick to defend his decision, as he quoted, “In the first game as well he played as a right wing-back, but there was nobody to criticize him then. It’s very easy to criticize someone when you have a bad day, but he's our player and we will back him. I believe every player, regardless of wherever they play on the pitch, they will give their all.”

SC East Bengal face NorthEast United in their third match of the league on December 5.

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