Kerala Blasters FC drew their third successive game in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 after playing out a 1-1 draw against Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. Mark Sifneos’ first half strike was cancelled out by Balwant Singh’s goal in the second, as the hosts ended the match with 10 men following CK Vineeth’s late sending off. Speaking to the media at the post-match press conference was Kerala’s head coach, Rene Meulensteen.

The Dutchman began by voicing his disappointment at not winning, while also highlighting the faults which prevented Kerala from being victorious. “It’s (the draw) disappointing of course,” he stated. “We scored in the first 15-16 minutes. We lost our way a little because of all the misplaced passes, that’s when Mumbai got a chance to get back in the game. We needed to score another one to secure the game. The lack of composure, the rush of blood made us miss chances. So Mumbai were still in the game. Also the goal we conceded could have been avoided, it came from our mistake in my opinion. Sure, it is two points lost from our perspective.”

He went on to explain why he replaced Rino Anto and Sifneos when both players were making an impact on the pitch. “Rino had a little bit of a groin niggle, and at half-time it was clear that he couldn’t continue,” he revealed. “And Mark, it was his first full game, he got a little tight with cramps which I thought was a shame because he had a very good game.”

Meulensteen also lauded Dimitar Berbatov for his performance and explained why he has played the Bulgarian in a deeper role. “He’s (Berbatov) the sort of guy that can read the game and you want to give him a free role,” he said. “He’s calm, doesn’t lose the ball and he’s the player who can start attacks. Also, players when they get into their thirties, lose their explosiveness a little bit, so they have to adapt their game and when he’s in that midfield slot a lot of good things can come from that. We saw today, he played a lot of good passes behind the defence.”

Kerala take on Goa in their next fixture, and Meulensteen has a lot to ponder after Vineeth’s suspended. “Goa will probably throw something different. We need to look what players we’ve got in the squad. Vineeth will be suspended for that game, so we’ll have to look for options there,” he said.