'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Kerala Blasters left the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai with a point on Thursday evening after a 0-0 draw against fellow strugglers Chennaiyin FC. Thus, the Blasters avoided a fourth straight ISL defeat, having come into the game with a hat-trick of losses.
Blasters coach David James seemed to have set up his side with merely taking a point in mind, as Kerala were happy to sit back and almost played with five at the back for large parts of the game.
They did express themselves a little more in the second half. However, speaking after the game, James said he felt "a bit of ambivalence" about the result and added, "We’ve lost three in a row and we didn't lose a fourth."
Trending
"The second half we were stronger and it looked like they were hanging on a bit towards the end. We maybe could have, should have scored. Only the second time we haven’t scored this season."
Kerala's two best chances fell to substitute Len Doungel, both in the final 10 minutes. In the 80th minute, on a quick counter, Doungel's powerful shot hit Chennaiyin's right post and came back with the keeper well beat. And just a minute later, after Chennaiyin keeper Sanjiban Ghosh came out to meet a cross and got caught out of position, Doungel fired a left-footed strike that this time went wide of the left post.
James said he was happy with the clean sheet and praised keeper Dheeraj Singh, saying, "Dheeraj deserved the rewards. Confidence comes with clean sheets. This is just our second one this season."
Doungel came on for Nikola Krcmarevic in the 59th minute after the latter left the field on a stretcher with an injury. With the Blasters already missing many with injury, James wasn't too happy with this latest addition to the list.
"We've been losing too many players due to injury. It's something that I'm not happy about."
Asked about Courage Pekuson, who hasn't featured in a long while, James replied: "I'm not leaving players out apart from the reason that they are not fit to play. If you are not fit to play, you don’t travel."
"I don’t have a problem using anyone from the 25. I have a problem with players breaking down during the game; happening too many times for my liking," he added.
One decision that certainly raised eyebrows was the omission of club captain Sandesh Jhingan from the starting XI. Towards the end of their last game Jhingan was seen cramping up. The Blasters lost to NorthEast United in that match, thanks to two late goals - the first of which was a penalty conceded by the Kerala skipper.
Asked if the omission was due to how the previous game ended, James first replied in the affirmative and praised Jhingan's efforts after coming on as a sub, saying he "gave us good options in midfield". But he then seemed to contradict himself, saying: "It had to do with the way we were going to play. It suited our stating line up . Training performances had an impact."
He also appeared to take a bit of a dig at his captain: "No problem with Sandesh being on the bench and coming on. He came on, did what a good pro would do. He didn’t cramp up towards the end this time."
The Blasters head back home to Kochi now, where they will play two games in three days next week - starting with Jamshedpur FC on Tuesday.
