Chennaiyin head coach John Gregory said that his players cannot be faulted for a lack of effort after they succumbed to a 0-1 loss against ATK at home on Wednesday.
Despite creating numerous chances throughout the match, the hosts struggled to find a goal and conceded a poor one in the second-half as David Williams scored his third in two matches.
"It is very frustrating for me to sit here and talk about this game. We dominated from start to finish. It was much like the Mumbai game. ATK rarely got out of their penalty box. We had a lot of chances. But we have taken just one point from two home games. it is a choker for me to deal with," Gregory said after the game.
"I can't fault my players for their attitude and performance. They could not have given any more. Every opportunity ATK had to lay down and waste time, the referee fell for it. We had the ball for 30 minutes and ATK team were on the floor for 15 minutes. There should have been 10 mts of injury time because they were wasting time. unfortunately, the referee got conned. They got what they came for. they got one chance and they took that. We have only ourselves to blame. Performance-wise, it was excellent. As long as we keep playing in that matter, I’m not that worried."
The English coach lamented his team's poor decisions in the final third, which has been their story of the season so far.
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"The final ball has not been good. The decisions have been poor in the final third. I could’ve made some substitutions towards the end but I thought the boys were doing well and did not make them. I thought Rafael might produce that defence-splitting pass. But it did not come and it is my responsibility, the result. It’s been a tough seven days for us. We had three games in this period. ATK had 10 days to play these three games."
He also added that Lallianzuala Chhangte, the club's prized summer signing, needs to do better with his output.
"Chhangte has got 100% effort. His decision-making needs to be better. If he had those attributes, he would be in Norway now, wouldn’t he? We need to tidy him up and improve him. But he has a huge heart and covers a lot of distance for the team. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He needs to work on his result."
