Happy with team’s response in second half: MCFC head coach Buckingham

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 13 (ANI): Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham was delighted with his side’s fighting spirit as they came from behind to clinch full points in their 6-2 victory against Chennaiyin FC in matchweek 6 of the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Chennai, on Saturday.
Buckingham applauded his players for the way they converted their chances while also heaping praise on the substitutes who made a crucial impact by netting the match-winning goals. He also laid emphasis on how this win will shape up to be a vital part in their ambitions for this season.
The 37-year-old wants his players to keep this momentum heading into their upcoming game and put up another great show in front of the fans in Mumbai. Buckingham addressed the media as he attended the official post-match press conference.
Talking about the match against Chennaiyin FC and the way his team made a superb comeback after 2 goals down, Des Buckingham was quoted as saying by ISL, “I’m actually very happy to come to a tough place here tonight. Another away game to pick up three points is very important for what we have to achieve this season, but I was very frustrated with the first half because I thought Chennaiyin FC started the game better than we did. I don’t think we started very well, they were actually better than us for the first 20 minutes and it took us some time to get going which was very different from the last two games that we played. What was pleasing is we stuck to what we wanted to do, we weathered the rain and got ourselves back in the game, 2-2 at halftime. Then, I’m really happy with the response from the team in the second half and I thought the second half was extremely strong.”
Speaking about being down in the first half and then drawing 2-2 at the break, Buckingham said that his team created a lot more chances than they have scored but the conversion rate was what the Mumbai City FC kind of needed to make sure we come away.
“It’s two things. I spoke after the ATK Mohun Bagan game about the number of chances that we created and needed to make sure that we convert a lot more of those chances, and I think we’ve done that tonight. We have created a lot more chances than we have scored but the conversion rate is what we kind of need to make sure we come away from this game in a much more comfortable position,” he added.
“The other point is that we started pretty much the same team for the last three games because the players had performed well and then we’ve got a very good squad of players that haven’t taken to the field or started. They have been very patient and worked extremely hard in the background. When you talk about the team, those players have certainly come on in the second half, they have waited, been patient, and to have an impact that they did (in the game) shows their quality of them as people. (It) also shows how important they are going to be going forward in the rest of the season,” said the Mumbai City FC head coach. (ANI)