Jamshedpur FC looked a transformed unit when they went down fighting 2-1 against FC Goa in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Thursday. Andre Bikey hailed the performance of his team despite the disappointing loss that saw them take the game to the opposition. The towering Cameroonian defender spoke to indiansuperleague.com after the final whistle and shared his thoughts on the game. Here are the excerpts.

Thoughts on the game.

It was a brilliant game to be fair. We were there, we knew already what happened. We were prepared for that kind of result but you know what the result was. We lost but that’s okay, it’s football. Look forward and keep going.

How difficult was it to play against FC Goa?

We already knew that. They pass the ball well and they have good passers and we were prepared to defend against that team. But again it was disappointing. It’s true and the way we lost the game, we lost our confidence to be fair. For the penalty, I think I was 100% sure it wasn’t. I thought I would go for the ball and the second goal again it was offside but it is difficult you know. We know the season is still longer to go but I hope the referee manages the game better because you can kill everyone you know. You prepare for the game for so many days, hours and hours into practice like that and then you come and lose like that. It’s difficult but that is football… because when you lose it’s very painful and when we lose in that kind of situation it’s difficult you know and that’s why it’s little disappointing to be fair. But in general, the game was good.

How difficult was it to control the game after the penalty?

We knew what had happened. If you keep complaining it’s so difficult, but you keep your head down and keep going, if not you can concede four, five, six goals. So that is the game and we still have nine games. It will be hard. So nothing is done and the league is still there, everything is still on and we’ll be okay for sure.

How has your performance been up until now and what are your chances for the semi-finals?

Everything is open and we are still in it. We are a strong team mentally and it is not easy to come here and perform like we did but unfortunately we lost the game. But again, that’s football and we have to manage it. Keep going and one day I am sure we’ll be in the top four.