Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle said his team’s hard work has helped it reach the final.
“I think we have worked hard to reach the final and we are not here by accident. We have been a team that had to win every week because of the form of the others... Odisha was winning, Mumbai was winning and obviously the top three teams (ATK, FC Goa and Bengaluru FC) were at the top,” Coyle said. “I think we showed an incredible mentality and we don’t want to come this far just to stop there. It has been an exciting season and we want to make sure we finish on a high,” he added.
Coyle, who replaced John Gregory as the head coach with Chennaiyin at the bottom of the table after four unproductive rounds, said the team gained momentum after the postponement of the match against NorthEast United FC (scheduled for December 12 but postponed because of the CAA protests in Guwahati).
“That postponed match gave me a good time to assess my players in the ensuing break,” Coyle said. “We managed a 1-1 draw against Jamshedpur FC in the first match under my charge and I would have fielded the same side again but for the break which allowed me to bring the necessary changes in the side to beat Kerala Blasters (on December 20). This has been a key factor in the team’s turnaround,” said Coyle.
