Aaron Hughes guided Kerala Blasters FC to yet another clean sheet during their 1-0 win over NorthEast United FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. CK Vineeth scored the only goal of the game in the 66th minute to send the Blasters into the semi-finals of Hero Indian Super League 2016 where they face Delhi Dynamos FC. Hughes put in yet another steady display at the back for Kerala and ended the game with a passing accuracy of 83%. The Northern Ireland international completed two blocks, two clearances and two interceptions for Kerala over the course of 90 minutes. He spoke to indiansuperleague.com after the game and shared his thoughts. Here are the excerpts from the interview.

Incredible scenes tonight, a job well done…

Yes, we did what we had to do and it was a tough game tonight, and to be fair to them, they played well and kept the ball well and they put us under a little bit of pressure, and great goal from Vineeth and it gave us something to hold on to, and you can see the scenes here, how happy everyone is and like you said it is a job well done.

Vineeth is in great touch this season. Are you hoping he can take this form into the semis?

Hopefully. That would be nice and he worked very hard for tonight and everybody else and when we went into the game we wanted to play good football and we knew it would be down to hard work and character and we saw that came out and we are looking forward to the semi-final.

You needed only a draw today but you displayed an attacking brand of football, so is that something we can expect in the semis too?

Yeah, I mean we just try to play each game to our strengths and it is a dangerous game if you come out playing for a draw, and I think tonight we didn’t focus on what the result would be and we focussed on the performance and doing the things that we knew would get us a result, and as it turns out, we have got a result, so I am happy.

Lastly, it is Delhi up next and they are in hot form, so are you going to take a bit of a rest and enjoy before that match-up?

I don’t think you can take a rest as it is the semi-finals (laughs), and of course you have got to enjoy the occasion but in the semi-finals, it is going to be a tough game whoever you play against, and both teams will be looking for the win to progress to the final, and today we will enjoy this win, and then get ready to prepare for what is ahead and it is an exciting time for us.