Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham was dejected as Hyderabad FC ended the defending champions' hopes of retaining the title following a 2-1 defeat in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) at the PJN Stadium in Goa on Saturday.

Rohit Danu (14') and Joel Chianese (41') gave the Nizams a two-goal lead in the first half as the Islanders only managed to pull one back through Mourtada Fall (76').

Match Report: Hyderabad FC end Mumbai City FC’s semi-final hopes, send Kerala Blasters through

This win took Hyderabad FC to the second spot with 38 points from their 20 games, while Des Buckingham's men finished the season fifth with 31 points on the board and allowed Kerala Blasters a clear passage into the semi-finals.

Buckingham addressed the media after the game.

Here are some excerpts from his press conference:

When the score was 2-1. Did you have the hope of making a comeback?

You always have a hope of a comeback if you’re behind. So, yes I did. We give away two sloppy goals. First for the set-piece and the second one is just a long ball down the field which we should be dealt better. We can't give away those types of goals. We played some good build-up football from the back but we just need to take a little bit more care and in the final third to make sure that when we do get opportunities we take them.

Speaking about today’s selection few new faces. Did you find any difficulty as you were not playing with your settled eleven?

Yeah, we had to make changes because we had two players suspended in Chhangte and Rahul Beke. That opened up opportunities for others and then we felt that after the last couple of games we could try a couple of different things. We have done that this evening. When you've got a squad of 27 players, we assess the players on a daily basis at training and we'll continue to do that. Those that perform, get the opportunity on the stage.

You failed to win your last seven matches. Do you think it’s time to retrospect?

Yeah, we'll do a review at the end of the season. The season only just finished for us in terms of the league. We’ve still got the Champions League.  We’ll have some time off now a couple of days before we regroup and come back together to go and challenge. What’s going to be a very tough group in Riyadh for the Champions League but we need to get ready for that.

What was the best part of the season? What things stood out for you?

Probably how welcome I've been made to feel since I come late into the country and into the bubble. I've really enjoyed my time with the club and I've really enjoyed my time in India.