Kerala Blasters FC came away with a point from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday after drawing 0-0 against Chennaiyin FC in the first south Indian derby of Hero Indian Super League 2016. The draw kept Kerala fifth in the table with nine points from seven matches and extended their unbeaten streak to five after losing their opening two matches of the season. Head coach Steve Coppell didn’t mince his words at the post-match press conference labelling his side’s first half display ‘terrible’.“From my point of view I thought we were terrible in the first half. We found it very difficult to get out of our own half. We tried many times to pass out and found ourselves in trouble. Overall, I don’t think we were good so I had a few words at half time. We changed some things in the second half and we went on to create three or four decent opportunities, which on another day might have gone in. I was very pleased at the half time whistle so that we could chat and sort things out,” said Coppell.He added: “In the second half we were at least getting crosses into the penalty box but in the first half we weren’t really doing anything. So, I was pleased that we had more attacking intent. I had a feeling that if any team was going to win it in the second half it was going to be us because we had a little more purpose to our play. We need to remember that we were playing the champions so it was good to be measured against them. They play a certain style of football which has been successful in the last couple of years. We have to respect what they do, they are a good team with good players. It’s not just a case of going and playing the way you want to because they make you play a certain style and also put you under a lot of pressure. We did not respond to that in the first half but in the second half we had more energy in us.”The 61-year-old also shed light on why his marquee player Aaron Hughes was replaced in the second period. “It was his hamstring. In the half time when he came in he mentioned that he wasn’t comfortable as he was feeling his hamstring was tightening up. He reached a stage where he could not continue and so we needed to make a few changes. I am glad it worked okay,” he said.Saturday’s clash against Chennai was the fourth time this season that Kerala have failed to score. The Blasters have only netted four times in their seven games so far and when asked for an explanation on his misfiring forwards, Coppell said: “It is just that they haven’t been able to score much, if I knew what was wrong I would work on it. I think we play a very tight game, we are disciplined. We have created opportunities, even today some good opportunities. I am reasonably happy with what we are doing. But obviously we need our strikers to catch fire over the next seven games because we would love to be in the semis. To be there, you have to win the rights to get there. To earn the rights you have to be solid in the back, creative in midfield and able to finish up front. We are very much a work in progress and we have got a lot of work to do to prove ourselves worthy to be in the top end of the table.”Kerala now travel to the capital city as they gear up to face Delhi Dynamos FC on November 4.
