Head coach Antonio López Habas (L) and Luis García.Atlético de Kolkata consolidated their chances for a place in the play-offs with a hard fought 1-0 win over the ever energetic NorthEast United FC at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday night. Skipper Luis García scored the all-important goal to provide his team a much needed boost before they hit the road for a slew of away matches.Garcia though is not going overboard over the team’s comfortable position at the top of the table and their bright chances of making it to the semi-finals. He is only focussed on winning the next match. “Our target is to win our next match,” he said at the post-match press conference. “Obviously, our main target is to reach the final, but we will try to win our next game first, that will probably take us closer to the points we target.”The Spaniard said it is important to score goals but it is more important to play good football. “When you score goals, that makes you more confident, but we have been playing good football and creating lots of chances. At the end of the day that is most important,” he observed.Throwing light on a tactical change that led to the matchwinner being scored, the Liverpool legend revealed, “We were playing attacking football in the first half but were falling short in front of goal. The coach told us at half-time to push forward more, so we started pushing higher up and the goal came.”Head coach Antonio López Habas dismissed a suggestion that the visitors were the better team and the hosts enjoyed a slice of luck to get a favourable result. “We played much better football than in our last game and I believe that got us the three points,” the Spanish gaffer asserted. “The most important thing is to win, be it a home or away match.”Habas also thrashed the idea that his team would have fared better with an extra striker. “I think we have a very good squad, this is working best for me; we obviously cannot sign any new player so we are not missing any extra striker,” he insisted.Asked about the spate of games that his team will play on the road, Habas replied, “I am only thinking about the next game. We have to play against a very tough opponent,” he remarked.Habas later revealed that midfielder Ofentse Nato, who got injured today, will travel with the team to Kochi for their next game. However, left back Biswajit Saha will only be fit to play after one week.
