After the 2-1 defeat in their away game against Kerala Blasters FC, the Atlético de Kolkata physical trainer Miguel Martinez and technical director Saharsh Parekh were visibly unhappy about the disallowed goal in stoppage time when they addressed the media at the post-match press conference.

 Kolkata would have left Kochi with a point had that goal been allowed and Parekh said that the ball appeared to have bounced inside the line, but the referee failed to see it. “Mistakes do happen once in a while and let us hope that they don’t get repeated,” he said.

 Parekh also welcomed the possibility of implementing the use of goalline technology in future in order to ensure that decisions can be made more accurately. “Obviously, we cannot bring in a new system in the middle of the league. That would be unfair to some of the teams. But most of the leagues have started using technology to help the referees make better decisions,” he pointed out.

 Answering a question from the media, Martinez said introducing Luis García later on in the match was part of the game plan. “We have a lot of good players and we don’t want to use the same team or strategy when we are play three games in a week,” he explained. But Martinez refused to use the marquee player’s absence on the field as an excuse for the goals conceded. “It’s true that we lost the game, but it was not because Garcia didn’t play in the first half,” he reiterated.

 Queried about the decision to play Baljit Sahni in the right back position instead of upfront, Martinez replied, “Baljit has been playing in the defensive position for 3-4 games now. We will continue to play him there because we think he is doing a good job. This is no excuse for the defeat either.”

 Speaking about the fiery atmosphere created by the 57,000 plus fans that filled the stadium, Martinez said there was no additional pressure on his team as a result. “The crowd is not new for us. At Kolkata also we played in front of a similar large crowd. Such a turnout is good for the game of football. While coming to Kerala, we knew we were going to play against a strong team which plays with a lot of commitment and is good physically. Now we need to concentrate on the next game and ensure we qualify for the semi-finals,” said Martinez as he signed off.