Chennaiyin FC head coach Bozidar Bandovic urged his players to keep the faith in their abilities and believe that they can still make the top four after they suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Mumbai City FC in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) match at the PJN stadium in Margao, Goa on Sunday.

Chennaiyin FC were beaten by a late goal from Vikram Partap Singh that leaves them three points adrift of fourth-placed Jamshedpur FC having played two matches more.

Match Report: Vikram Partap Singh's late winner helps Mumbai City FC sink Chennaiyin FC

Bandovic spoke to the media after the match.

Here are the excerpts from his press conference:

How difficult is it for the team to make it to the semi-finals with such results?

It's difficult but we played a good game with good effort and good character on the field and we had moments. The boys did everything but it's difficult at this moment but of course there is still a chance.

This is the second straight game that you conceded a late goal. What is the reason behind that?

Today we lost the ball when we had the ball. We were all alone and it was one moment of transition. It shouldn't happen and we should avoid this but I can't hold anything against the boys as they played a good game against a very good team.

Mumbai City FC weren't in great form coming into the match. Does the loss come as a double blow considering they were a direct rival for the top four?

They are a direct rival and they are a very good team but today we played a good game against them. They have good players and are a good team so of course they have taken the three points but we need to keep playing and keep believing that we can do it.

Read: Important now that we kick on after this win, says MCFC's Des Buckingham

Did you miss Vladimir Koman today and when will he be available next?

Of course, if you look at the opponent and how played against a very good opponent without one of our best players you could see that it was difficult. The boys did very well. I don't know (when he will be back). I am waiting for the medical team to tell me on Monday or Tuesday if he will be available for the next match.

Realistically how many points do you require in the final five games to make it to the semi-finals?

I don't count this. We need to win the next game. This is a very important game for us. Today we did everything, we had the moments to score and we didn't score the goal and we conceded the goal that we should have avoided.