After Federation Cup success, Bengaluru FC eye AFC Cup glory

Bengaluru: Fresh from the Federation Cup triumph, Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca today expressed confidence in his side's ability to pull off a win in its upcoming AFC Cup assignment, despite the likelihood of missing some of his key players.

Bengaluru FC, who beat Mohun Bagan 2-0 to win the Federation Cup Sunday, host Maziya Sports and Recreation on May 31.

"We were unfortunate to have lost two more strikers due to injury. Udanta's (Singh) injury in the final means it would be difficult for him to feature against Maziya, similarly CK Vineeth too had some discomfort towards the end of the game," Roca told reporters.

Vineeth scored twice in extra time to seal the game in BFC's favour.

Roca said Cornell Glen and Marja Jogovic, who has undergone a surgery, will also miss the AFC Cup game.

"Cornell Glen will also be unable to play that tournament and Marjan Jugovic has just undergone surgery and will need time to recover, so, we need to find solutions to those problems," he said.

"However, we are confident that we can get the job done. We will be playing at home, that gives us an advantage and we will do everything we can to go through to the next round of the tournament," Roca added.

On his side's latest title clash with Mohun Bagan, Roca lauded his players for a fighting display despite missing skipper Sunil Chhetri and Cameron Watson.

"We played without two important players Sunil Chhetri and Cameron Watson, but the squad showed that they can put up a good fight and never gave up until the last minute. The team has shown that even in case of adverse circumstances they can get the job done," he said.

The team's strategy was to stifle the opposition attackers and hit on the counter.

On two goals being disallowed, Roca said the first was probably an off side but the second by Juanan was clean, and the team was disappointed with the decision.

"I think we have done really well in our set pieces and as you saw we could have scored off one, but unfortunately it was disallowed, otherwise we wouldn't have had to play extra time," he added.

"Football is a difficult sport, sometimes referees can make mistakes, it was not done purposely."