We need to take care of the ball better, says Owen Coyle

Jamshedpur FC's unbeaten run came to end after loss to Mumbai City FC in an entertaining game.

Jamshedpur FC's hopes of snatching the pole position from Mumbai City FC shattered down as soon the game started with Owen Coyle's men conceding a third-minute goal from Cassinho. After being down 3-0 in the first half, Jamshedpur showed character in the second half. They scored twice within 10 minutes of the restart, before super-sub Ygor Catatau restored his side's two-goal lead.

The Men of Steel entered this clash with a chance of pipping the defending champions to the table-top. Jamshedpur FC were just a point short of Mumbai City from the same number of matches. But three goals within the first 25 minutes killed their hopes.

Coyle's men still came back stronger in the second half and had enough opportunities to level the scores. However, they fell short on the night. Jamshedpur FC still remain on second with eight points from five matches, while Mumbai City are four points clear at the top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzWCHQeUFKw

Head coach Owen Coyle was upset with his side for conceding such 'soft' goals. The Scotsman felt all of those four goals could have been avoided. Here are the excerpts from his post-match press conference.

Conceding early goals

He started by talking about conceding three goals within 25 minutes of the game. "I think we need to take care of the ball better, every goal we conceded was self-inflicted. The first one was soft ball and TP would probably feel he should've done better. The second one Eli should've cleared it for a corner. We were in good possession, then one mistake led to the third goal," which should've been avoided according to the coach.

[KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

Message at half-time

Jamshedpur FC came roaring back in the second half of the game and when asked about the message he gave to the players, the tactician said, "My message was, we've to focus on the next goal. It doesn't have to be in 5 or 10 minutes, but as we get the next goal then the game is alive again."

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News |ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Nerijus Valskis' exclusion

On Nerijus Valskis' surprising exclusion from the starting XI, the coach confirmed that it was a forced change due to his slight injury, saying, "No, Valskis was injured, Jordan Murray the same, not fully fit and so was Len Doungel. With three days recovery for ATK and two days for Mumbai, it was difficult."

For more football updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.