Chennaiyin FC played out a 1 – 1 draw against Kerala Blasters FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Jawaharlal Stadium in Chennai on Friday. Chennai took the lead late on through a Rene Mihelic penalty, only for it to be cancelled out by a last-gasp CK Vineeth strike. Speaking to the media during the post-match press conference was Chennaiyin’s head coach, John Gregory, who admitted that his team was a bit fortunate with the result.

“It’s (the result) probably more than we deserved,” he stated. “We were fortunate to get the penalty. I think there was bit of a mix-up at the throw-in. They took it very quickly and made the best. Both teams didn’t `want to lose, so it wasn’t an entertaining game for you all. But obviously we thought we’d won it.”

However, he also mentioned that while the result could have gone either way, Chennaiyin needed to be more alert after taking the lead. “The game was devoid of a lot of opportunities,” he said. “It quite easily could have gone against us. They hit us on the counter, should have done better and you kind of get the feeling that nobody was going to win it. But we managed to get a point from it. So, it will serve as a reminder when we’re leading in injury time that we need to be a little more alert.”

Before concluding, the Englishman lauded his team as a whole and went on to admit that he found it hard to choose his starting line-up. “One of the great things is as I often said, I’ve got a healthy bunch of players,” Gregory said. “I’ve got six players that I could have easily put on to the pitch and they would have had an impact. And obviously, the three that I put on had a positive impact. I have a good squad. The hardest job for me each week is to choose the team.”