After suffering a 3-2 defeat against Hyderabad FC in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL), SC East Bengal coach Robbie Fowler has said that his players need to show they are "good enough" to compete in the tournament.
Fowler also said that his team was initially built for competing in the I-League and now it's up to his players to raise their levels. Thirty-nine seconds was all it took for Aridane Santana to turn the game around as unbeaten Hyderabad FC condemned SC East Bengal to yet another defeat in the ongoing seventh season of the ISL on Tuesday.
Fowler's men took the lead with their first goal of the season through Jacques Maghoma (26'). But Aridane swept aside any hopes of a first win with a 56th-minute brace that was separated only by 39 seconds.
"I just think we are a team that is built for the I-League. The recruitment process for this team was for the I-League and then we catapulted to the ISL. Now it's up to the players to show that they are good enough for the ISL. We could do a lot better. We scored a couple of goals, which is obviously a positive for us. We proved that we can score goals and now we need to improve our concentration levels. 10 minutes after half-time you concede two goals which is obviously not what we wanted. We started well, took a lead, and just switched off," said Fowler during the post-match press conference.
"Well, I think we need to obviously improve massively. Look it's still not over. We have a lot of points to play for. We have a lot of performances left in us. See from that team formation and the players playing in that we have got a lot of work to do. I'm going to talk to the players. A few of them are not doing themselves any favour at the moment," he added.
Fowler also went on to urge his players to focus in the next matches as he believes that things can still be turned around.
"We have to pick ourselves. It's not about soaking and crying. We have to just get on with it. We have to take it, it can be changed, we have to get better. We have to be sensible. We have to be cleaver," said Fowler.
East Bengal are currently at the bottom of the table and the side will now take on Kerala Blasters on Sunday in the ISL.
Fowler's side has suffered four defeats and the team only has one point in their kitty from five matches.
( With inputs from ANI )
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