Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham wants his team to chin up after a dismal performance against Saudi Arabian side Al-Shabab FC who put past six at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against the Islanders.

Failing to convert their crucial chances, the Islanders faced consequences from the White Lions as they responded with a Hattan Bahebri hat-trick (19’, 64’, 66’), a goal apiece from Al-Joui (52’) and Carlos Junior (81’), and Mourtada Fall’s (36’) howler which led to an own goal.

Match Report: AFC Champions League: Hattan Bahebri hat-trick leads the way as Al-Shabab FC run riot over Mumbai City FC in 6-0 win

Buckingham was pleased with his team’s overall performance and urged his men to take learnings from this game and get going for the upcoming game.

Following the game, the Islanders head coach addressed the media during the official post-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from the coach’s press conference:

What is your opinion of the game after facing defeat against Al-Shabab FC?

Well done to Al-Shabab FC, they showed their quality and proved themselves. We said we know it’s going to be a tough game, after the goal went in, it was a tough loss in terms of the scoreline but again they’ve shown their quality, they’ve shown the differences clinically, the chances, and the difference they can make at this level.

How would you rate your team’s performance tonight?

The first half I was pleased, the first 10-15 minutes, we had the chance, and we should've scored. It was some particularly good football. But I think from the moment we conceded the goal, we played out a couple of times but the third time we conceded, we started out as too defensive, we didn’t stick with what we wanted to do.

So, it’s a learning for us, we must quickly regroup, and we will, as we are a strong group because we still have an opportunity to finish higher in the group if we win our next game. We got ourselves in a good position, we’ll take away learnings from this match which are especially important, and the experiences of these players playing this game, in this team, at this level, which stands us in a good state, now and in the future.

Conceding six goals in this match, did you expect this result from this match?

No, we know that coming into this level of competition the differences between the teams, and I said before the game about the qualities Al-Shabab possesses, they’re one of the best teams in this competition and have been playing here consistently. When you don’t get things quite right, and then you are facing a team which is known for being ruthless, that can happen at this level.

And we’re a team who are very inexperienced when it comes to playing at this level, yes, we conceded six, but we must get on with things and make sure we set ourselves up properly. We will come ready for the final game of this tournament.

This wasn’t the same performance from the team as it was on matchday 1. What do you make out of this?

The one thing I’m already pleased about with my team from matchday one all the way through matchday five is how well the players have tried to play, you know, we’ve come here to try and attack teams rather than sit back and defend. Certainly, in the first four games, the performances we’ve put in, they deserved the results we got from those games and maybe some more.

We tried to do that again tonight and it hasn’t quite worked. And that happens sometimes, you hope it doesn’t happen too often. But in terms of wanting to come here, be brave, to let players show what they can do, I’m incredibly pleased with it. And we’ve had some standout performances from some of our young players as well which, again, will bode well for us in the future.