Defending champions ATK equalised twice to finish 2-2 and snatch a point against Kerala Blasters FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Thursday. Gudjon Baldvinsson and Dimitar Berbatov had twice given Kerala the lead in either half, but Ryan Taylor and Tom Thorpe struck respectively to draw level. The hosts, however, remain rooted at the eighth spot in the table, with chances of missing out on a playoff berth for the first time ever, looming large.

Addressing the media during the post-match press conference was their interim head-coach Ashley Westwood, who seemed pleased with his team’s performance and spoke about the positives from the game. “We have not lost; we scored two goals in a game, which is the first time the club has done this season,” he inferred. “So, scoring was a problem, which I think we have broken a little bit now. Obviously, we need to be a little more ruthless at the back. But we can’t be too displeased. We have come a long way in such a short period of time.”

He elaborated, “It was important not to lose. We had a good going, we were not scared, we tried attacking football, we were entertaining and fast, moved the ball around nice and quick, and we created plenty of chances. We scored two, but we should have scored one or two more and we might have been a bit comfortable. They too had chances, but we made a good game of it. They tried to win, and we tried to win. We were unlucky, but we have got to take encouragement from the two goals.”

The Englishman also lauded the attitude his players displayed on the pitch against a tough opponent. “We have shown good character because we had gone behind twice,” he remarked. “Being on a winning streak, we could have quite easily given in there, conceded more and lose heavily. But at least we showed some real character and we were unfortunate not to score a few more goals.”

However, the 41-year-old had some bad news to share as well. “Unfortunately, we have picked up another injury at half-time (Jordi Montel) and that’s weakened us a little bit,” he revealed. “We are trying to get through games without picking up injuries. And that has been the story of our season. So, no matter what the coach does, if players keep getting injured for one reason or the other, it’s always going to get hard.”

When asked about his plans for the remaining fixtures, Westwood replied, “I think we can safely say that it is going to be very tough now to get to the playoffs. But what we need to do is keep playing and keep trying to win. We need to finish the season strongly.”