We’ll try to finish as high as possible: Des Buckingham

Des Buckingham head coach Mumbai City FC pleased with his team’s 1-0 victory over SC East Bengal in Tuesday’s Hero Indian Super League (ISL) match at the PJN stadium in Margao, Goa.

Bipin Singh scored the only goal of the game in the 51st minute to give the Islanders a crucial victory. They currently have 28 points from 17 games, one more than Kerala Blasters. In addition, the Islanders have played one more match than the Yellow Army.

Buckingham addressed the media after the game.

Here are some excerpts from his press conference:

How important was this win for you top-four contention?

It’s an important one, you know, that puts us now fourth on the table with three games to go. I’m just pleased with the performance as we grew into it the second half. I thought that SC East Bengal they’ve played some fantastic football special for the last three games under Mario, they were always going to be a tough team to beat. But I’m glad that we stuck through to what we were trying to do, and we grew into the game to get the result.

SC East Bengal troubled you a lot in the end. Would you have been happier if you got one or two more goals?

If you can ever get a second goal or a third goal in a game to see it off, anyone would take that from you. But they’re very good side, I don’t think in the league table is they’re not where they should be, especially in the last three games. You look at the 2-2 against Chennaiyin FC or you look at the 2-1 against the Odisha FC they have played some good football. They are a different team under Mario. So, we know it was going to be tough. And I’m glad that again we’ve come away with a good score and another one win.

You go into the top four, but you have played one extra game. Do you aim to win the next three matches?

We spoke about building momentum going into the final part of the season. Like I said we’ve won three out of four now. With three to go and with fourth spot on the table, we still play those teams in around us. So, it’s down to us now to see where we finish. We’ll be trying to finish as high as we can with as many points as we can.