SC East Bengal earned their first points in Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 following a 0-0 draw against Jamshedpur FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Thursday. The Kolkata club played the majority of the game with 10 men after Eugeneson Lyngdoh was sent for an early shower following a second yellow card in the 25th minute.

However, Robbie Fowler’s men showed great determination to hang in there for a hard-earned point and their head coach revealed what he told his players after going down to 10 men. “[I told them] to regroup. We were up against it. I don’t think any decisions were going our way and it was a situation of everything against us, but we needed to go out there and defend like we know we can. So, it was a case of shut up shop, don’t concede and it was important that we got the point on the back of three losses. I think it was a huge point for us in the end,” Fowler said at the post-match press conference.

The Englishman then admitted that he feels his side maybe a bit over-reliant on Anthony Pilkington and Jacques Maghoma. “They are our star players and maybe we are relying too much on them. So, it’s up to the other players to try and help them out a little bit. Having said that, we have created chances in the past and there’s no doubt that we will score goals. We are still waiting to get up to speed with fitness and obviously the more games that we play, the fitter we look. If we played with 11 men tonight, you’d see a different team. We would obviously create chances and we are more than happy with a point. We defend well as a team and we attack as a team, so overall it was a great performance,” Fowler said.

The 45-year-old also praised Matti Steinmann’s performance. “I think Matti has been brilliant. For me, he was a great player anyway but obviously when he comes into this team here, we are relying on him to put in great performances every single game and he’s doing that. He’s a really fantastic player and a fantastic signing for the club,” Fowler enthused.

Watch Robbie Fowler's Post-Match Press conference here:

Meanwhile, Jamshedpur head coach Owen Coyle bemoaned the draw having played with a man advantage for the large part of the game. “We are disappointed not to have won the game. We certainly had some chances to get that first goal. Had we got that first goal, I think we would have gone on to get the three points. But listen, it’s another game unbeaten. We came in with the idea of winning the game and had chances, particularly, in the first half, so I think it’s fair to say that we are disappointed not to win the match,” he said after the game.

When asked if he felt a draw was a fair result, Coyle replied: “I feel we should have won the game. I think SC East Bengal will think it’s a fair outcome because they were with 10 men for the most part of the game and we were reduced to 10 late on. So, they will feel it’s a valuable point battling away, but we feel it’s two points dropped. We had all the chances, I don’t think SC East Bengal had a chance in the game and to be fair, you can understand why; it was backs against the walls for them. But they defended valiantly and credit for that. We certainly did enough to win the game, but we have to be more clinical in front of goal.”

Watch Owen Coyle's Post-Match Press conference here: