ATK crashed to their third defeat in a row and sixth of the season as Jamshedpur FC registered a 1 – 0 victory over them in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Sunday. Trindade Goncalves’ second-half penalty sealed the win for the visitors as the defending champions’ hopes of making the playoffs suffered a severe blow.

Speaking to the media during the post-match press conference was their interim head coach Ashley Westwood, who blamed the injuries for his team’s poor form. “Our team has to be kept fit,” he stated. “We have four injured foreigners and we have got Indian boys injured, too. We are playing a team that is very weak, because of the injuries. Simple as that.”

The Englishman further elaborated, “Obviously, Robbie Keane is injured. He is our main player. Ryan Taylor is suspended and injured. He is one of our goals’ players. Eugeneson Lyngdoh is injured, and he’s our best Indian player. It’s not an excuse, but those are the cards we got. I think we had like 10 injuries today. So, it was always going to be tough. We have to find a way. That’s why we have the squad. That’s why we try things a little bit different. And we’ll keep trying and working till we find a solution.”

When asked about ATK’s chances of making the top four, the 41-year-old replied, “Well, it looks very, very tough at the moment. We are probably going to need five wins and maybe a draw, possibly maybe even six wins. We are running out of games. All our foreign attackers are injured. So, it’s going to be tough, but I don’t think it’s dead. We will be stronger in the next game, that’s for sure; we’ll have some bodies fit. That should make a difference. So, hopefully, if we don’t get too down, if we look to get positive, I’m sure we can make an impact next weekend.”