David Benjamin James, head coach, marquee player and goalkeeper for the Kerala Blasters FC, had mentioned before the match that they had come to Delhi to win. And that’s exactly what the hard working visitors did, beating hosts Delhi Dynamos FC by a solitary goal in the national capital on Sunday to climb to third on the Hero Indian Super League table.The former England goalkeeper has kept clean sheets in the last four games but he refused to take individual credit for the feat and humbly acknowledged collective effort for making it possible. “If every individual in the team has the desire of not conceding, then, that desire translates to the entire team as a unit to not concede,” James explained at the post-match press conference. “We all are playing unbelievingly well. Today, we made many clearances and tackles and that’s what we need to do,” he enthused.James conceded that the Blasters are not the same scoring team that they were in the pre-season. “If we were scoring 3-4 goals every game, then the defence would have had less pressure. We have to keep clean sheets in order to get the wins if not the draws. As a unit we have been great. We have 5-6 games to go in the league and hopefully three more in knockout stages, so the season is far from over,” he mused.James wants his players to be impact players, a reference to substitute Penn Orji’s defining contribution to the result after coming on in the 56th minute.“When you come in, have a mindset of changing the game in a positive fashion,” James quipped.The former Liverpool and Manchester City custodian said his team are excited to be going back home for their next game against Atlético de Kolkata on November 21 and tapping into their tremendous home support.“We have the best fans in the country. The noise in Kochi for the three matches has been nearly deafening. At the end of the game we go over to them and thank them for coming, regardless of a win, loss or draw. We look forward to the next match in Kochi among the 50,000 fans. I recommend you bring some earplugs for the game,” James suggested.Sandesh Jhingan, Kerala Blasters defender, also expressed satisfaction over his team’s defending as well as his individual performance, at the press conference. “Defenders take a lot of pride in clean sheets. It is all about dedication. I personally prefer to play centre back. But I don’t mind playing left or right back as well, as long as I am in the team and we win. The coaches have shown a lot of confidence in me even after the first few games of the season and since then, I have been working hard and getting better every match,” he said.
