East Bengal will hope to end their winless streak in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL) season when they take on Hyderabad in their fifth match on Tuesday.
The Red and Golds registered their first point of the season in their last game against Jamshedpur despite going down to 10 men within the first 25 minutes of the match.
Coach Robbie Fowler hailed the fighting spirit of his team as they managed to salvage a point with a man down against the Men of Steel.
“The fight that our boys have shown in the last game is what we are known for all along. We are a team who have a great work ethic. The togetherness of this team is brilliant. When we went down to 10 men we needed to show this to everyone. Thankfully people now know that we have a team spirit and we are a team full of fighters,” said the East Bengal head coach.
The former England international forward promised the fans of the club that they will witness an improved East Bengal side going forward in the season.
“Our spirits are high anyway. The four games we have played, we have actually played okay. We have been outdone by unluckiness at times. Various things have happened on the football pitch like players getting sent off, players going off injured. The players are fitter now and we will start seeing a better East Bengal team,” said Fowler.
Goalkeeper Sankar Roy, who made his debut for the Red and Golds in the last match, had to leave the pitch in the second half with an injury and Fowler suggested that the custodian along with the other injured players are being monitored on a regular basis and will be back in action when they are fully fit.
“Like all injuries, we have assessed him and we will wait. It’s no good in me saying he is going to be back then. This includes all of them, Aaron Holloway, Danny Fox and Sankar Roy. Players will come back when they are ready. We are not keeping them away. If players are injured we have to consider what the physios say. When they are ready they will be ready.”
ISL
Even though East Bengal’s defence looked solid against Jamshedpur, their strikers are yet to fire as they are the only club in the league to not have scored in the ongoing season.
Coach Fowler though suggested that the team is always looking to find the goal as winning is their only aim in every game.
“In our second game against Mumbai, we lost one of our main players, our captain (Danny Fox) on the pitch and we had to adjust accordingly. Then again against Jamshedpur, we had a man sent off. But we still have to play to get points. It is important that we never lost. It needed us to be a little more defensive.
“We go into every game wanting to win, we don’t go into a game defensive because want to win the game. That is the attitude I am trying to instil in the players. We never go in there and not want to win. It was not a case of us being ultra defensive it was a case of us fighting together and let’s not get beat,” said the Liverpool legend.
The former Brisbane Roar manager considers the Hyderabad match as a challenge but he is banking on the unpredictability of the league this year and is hoping to change the club’s fortunes.
“Hyderabad have had a few good results, few gritty performances. But this is a new game for us. Our players are getting fitter. It is a huge challenge but Hyderabad manager will also say the same thing. They have got a challenge in their hands as well. What we have seen in this league is teams can beat each other. We saw a few unorthodox results which may have been different from last year and now it is up to us to get some results.”