Ricki Herbert was disappointed over the fact that his side could not claim full points in front of a rousing home support at the Indira Gandhi Athletic stadium in Guwahati. Denied by a resolute FC Pune City rear-guard and let down by poor finishing, the NorthEast United FC head coach rued his side’s missed chances, which he believed would have made the difference.“I thought we played well and dominated possession, especially in the last 15 minutes or so. We created plenty of chances, but I have to say that we could not put them away. We wanted to win this but Pune defended well and made it hard for us,” he said at the post-match press conference.When asked about whether his side lacked the cutting edge upfront, the Kiwi was quick to state that his young wards would step up to the plate eventually: “You have to understand that our club has not gone ahead and invested money in top quality international talent upfront like some of the other clubs have and has decided to place its faith in youngsters. I gave Alen Deory his first start today and I thought that the boy played pretty well. I know that we could not capitalise on the openings that we created but I am sure that the boys will learn from their shortcomings and hit the back of the net more often going forward.”The former New Zealand national coach lavished praise on his defenders and reiterated that they had been outstanding, “I thought that we defended extremely well. Miguel Garcia was brilliant for us today, he won everything in the air and tackled well. Joan (Capdevila) played very well too,” he stated. “I am happy to see that we are not conceding goals and the base for every good performance is laid by a solid defensive showing.”The Kiwi gaffer also admitted that they now need to start winning their home games in order to break into the top four and cement their place there. “I know that we have fantastic home support and that they want to see us win here. We will try and score more goals. It is just a matter of converting some of those many chances that we are creating regularly. The top four will be a very tight affair. It is fantastic on one hand for the Hero Indian Super League to have such a thrilling competition in its first year itself, but on the other hand, we know that any team that wins a couple of games will suddenly be in contention to break into the top four,” Herbert concluded.
