Jamshedpur FC played out a 1-1 draw with Hyderabad FC at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. The Jamshedpur-based club trailed by a goal for more than 50 minutes but scored from a set-piece in added time to take their points tally in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 to 18 points from 17 matches.

While speaking in an exclusive post-match interview, Jamshedpur head coach Antonio Iriondo shared his thoughts on the encounter and said, “It was a match of two teams that are out of contention for the semi-finals. Both teams didn’t give up. We are struggling without a lot of our great players. So, it is very difficult for a team to play without these players. However, I have to be happy with the performance of the young players because they are trying and they are improving. After this match, they are going to have a good feeling.”

“We controlled the ball but didn’t create too many chances. On the other hand, Hyderabad have very good foreign attackers. So, every time they got close to our box, they created a real danger to our team. Their players have a lot of intensity. We were closer to the penalty box more times than them, but we didn’t look like creating danger. They were more dangerous,” he added.

The Spaniard also revealed the reason he substituted striker Sergio Castel at the start of the second half. “It can be a little strange when you are losing, and you take out a striker and you put a midfielder in the pitch. But the real thing is that Sergio was injured. He was in a lot of pain and we didn’t have any strikers on the bench. All our strikers were injured or suspended. So, we tried to make the field wider and try and make space at the back,” reported Iriondo.

Read the Match Report here.