ISL 2022-23: Getting into the top six would take a miracle – East Bengal FC head coach Stephen Constantine

East Bengal FC head coach Stephen Constantine admitted getting into the top six would take a miracle after his team suffered a 3-1 loss against Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar on Saturday. The Kolkata-based club has managed four wins and eight losses in the 12 matches they have played in the ongoing season of the Hero Indian Super League 2022-23.

They have a total of 12 points in the league and they are currently struggling at ninth place in the standings. Thus, the Red and Gold brigade will need to turn the tables in the upcoming matches of the competition.

Breaking into the top six to qualify for the playoff stages is going to be a tough job for East Bengal and they will need to come up with consistent performances.

Meanwhile, Diego Mauricio scored a brace for Odisha FC and Nandhakumar Sekar also scored for the team. On the other hand, Cleiton Silva found the back of the net for East Bengal FC but it was not enough in the end.

“I said when I first came here that getting into the top six would take a miracle. That’s still the case. There are 24 points left (from eight games) and while we’re mathematically in with a chance, we will fight every game and try every opportunity to get three points. We have a home game next week and our target will be as it was here – to get three points. We had a good start, we could have continued that. We didn’t have luck on our side today,” Constantine said at the post-match press conference.

Constantine admitted they made mistakes in conceding the first two goals against the opposition and feels they could have been avoided.

“We made some individual mistakes. Lalchungnunga got beat at the corner, (Maurcio was) his man, you don’t want that to happen. The second goal was a complete fluke. He (Sekar) crossed the ball and it went into the top corner and I don’t think you can legislate for that,” he explained.

The club’s gaffer also provided an update on debutant Himanshu Jangra’s injury.

“He’s had a bad knock to the ankle. Not sure how serious it is. Again, that’s another player (who has gone injured). It was clearly a foul. He’s out, don’t know for how long. Cleiton went down and was feeling a bit tight in the hamstring. We could have kept him in and made things worse. Hopefully, he will be okay,” he concluded.

East Bengal FC will next take on Jamshedpur FC on Friday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata.