After the goalless draw against NorthEast United, HFC Head Coach Manolo Marquez discussed the result, the problems his side faced, and more…

On the game and the result…

It is not an excuse but most teams look tired at the moment. For me, it was not an exciting game. Both teams were slow with their game and apart from a couple of half-chances, there were no real goal-scoring opportunities for either side and I think 0-0 was a fair result in the end.

On the difficulty of facing NorthEast United…

They are a really strong side, with great organization and dangerous players in attack. They are also fast in transition, but we did well to control these situations. Maybe we were worried about their ability to score and I feel we could have been more adventurous in the attack. I don’t want to use the word fear but maybe we could have done better in front of goal. However, with just four games left, this is a decent result for us and of course, we will keep fighting till the end, for qualification.

On how the visitors negated the threat of Aridane and Sandaza…

Yes, they have really good and strong defenders, who did well against our strikers. Sometimes, you plan things that don’t really work in certain games and for me, this was one such game. You can play well and still struggle to score and for me, I am happy with the effort of my team. But yes, we needed to do more to win this game.

On Roland Alberg’s role in the side…

It is difficult for new players who arrive in a team that is doing well. Roland came into the side in the middle of our eight-game unbeaten run. We also had Fran Sandaza back in action around the same time. So I think he arrived late and with talented youngsters and in-form overseas players in the team, it is not easy for him to adapt fast.