We still have 3 matches to go, I have faith in boys: Bhaskaran

Monchengladbach, Sep 7 (UNI) A visibly disappointed coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran put up a brave face despite India's second straight defeat in the hockey World Cup, saying ''I still have lot of hopes on my boys, we still have three matches to go.'' He was candid enough to admit that India did not play up to the expectation against England today.

''We played a soft hockey. Our attacking was not up to the mark,'' he confessed.

The coach was of the view that his players made too many mistakes in the midfield.

''We conceded the ball to the rivals several times. There were far too many midfield lapses,'' he rued.

In his view, the red card to Hari Prasad in the 59th minute of the game was very crucial and turning point of the match ''because we were playing well and suddenly were reduced to ten men and in that 10-minute period England scored twice.'' Bhaskaran also said the players have not able to shrug off yesterday's defeat against Germany.

''That match was still in the minds of the players,'' he said.

The coach said, ''Our penalty corner conversion was also poor. We could convert only one of the four penalty corners that came our way.'' Asked why he continued with defender Kanwalpreet Singh for long despite his poor showing, the coach said, ''There is no need to blame any player, the whole team is responsible for the end result.'' He, however, asserted that all was not lost yet.

''We still have three matches and nine points to play for. I have faith in my players. It is a bunch of committed players who could be developed into a very good side.

''Yes it would have been good to get a point. We are without a point after two outings and that is not good. But I have not given up the hopes and so do the boys,'' he said.

Meanwhile, England coach Jason Lee was happy with his team's showing.

''It is good to start the World Cup with three points. We should have won by much bigger margin but for the missed chances,'' he said, adding ''missing two strokes in such level of competition is not good. We will have to improve this area,'' he remarked.

Jason said he was happy that his players did not lose heart after conceding a goal. They kept attacking and that was a pleasing thing.

''We played strong game. The challenge was to play our game and not to be worried about other results or the big occasion. We were resilient and despite missing two strokes and a goal down we came back in the game, though we tend to become nervous in last couple of minutes.

''In fact, this is the best result we have got in recent times,'' he added.

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