We need to defend well for entire game: Jamshedpur FC head coach Boothroyd

Jamshedpur FC head coach Aidy Boothroyd acknowledged that his team need to tighten their defence and was disappointed with the way they conceded the goals as the Red Miners went down 1-3 to East Bengal FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, in Jamshedpur, on Sunday.

East Bengal FC gave Jamshedpur FC an early blow right at the start as VP Suhair's low header found the back of the net in the second minute. The visitors doubled their tally thanks to an inch perfect ball by Naorem Mahesh Singh to Cleiton Silva, who placed it into the net. Jamshedpur FC pulled one back with a well-taken penalty by Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, but the duo of Silva and Naorem Mahesh were involved again, just minutes before the hour mark as the Brazilian netted his fifth goal of the season.

Boothroyd, who attended the post-match press conference, was displeased with the way his team conceded all three goals against EBFC. The Jamshedpur FC gaffer said his players need to defend better while initiating counter-attacks and demanded his backline to tighten up.

Talking about how Jamshedpur FC conceded the most number of goals in the first 30 minutes in the league, Boothroyd said, "If I told you that we worked on that every single day, you probably wouldn't believe me, but that's what we do. So when it comes up in the game, everybody knows what they're doing. For example, we hit the crossbar. We ended up being counter-attacked, which we knew. We see our opponents and we know what they're going to do, but it is a matter of the players implementing and making good decisions."

"Pretty much (sure), we are better than what we have shown this evening in terms of our defensive work. I have to say that I'm really disappointed with the way we conceded the goals. I think we created chances, we are not scoring at the moment. In terms of our defence, it's not just the first 30 minutes, it is the whole game. We need to be better," he further stated.

Explaining the reason behind how Jamshedpur FC failed to convert those chances in the match even though having a better passing percentage in the opponent's half," Boothroyd stated, "Yes, we are an attacking team. We do play in the opponent's half. We are trying to score, but it is during that counter-attacking that we don't defend well while we attack and that's the issue. I have to get that right very quickly."

( With inputs from ANI )