Livid Delhi Dynamos coach pulls up players for caving under pressure

New Delhi: A livid Delhi Dynamos coach Harm van Veldhoven on Saturday criticised his players for caving in under pressure in their 1-4 drubbing against FC Goa in their last match and asked his wards to pull up their shocks in the remaining matches of the Hero Indian Super League.

With his team lying at the bottom of the eight-team league standings with just one win from eight matches, Van Veldhoven asked his players to end their five-match winless streak with a victory against Kerala Blasters on Saunday.

"We conceded an early goal and then the second and then the third, and I saw from the stands that my players were having too much nervousness. They were not calling for balls and I was surprised. It was happening for the first time," said Van Veldhoven, who sat at the stands after being sent off in the first leg match against Kerala Blasters in Kochi on November 9.

"May be, the players are taking too much pressure or may be some players were feeling tired. They needed to remain sharp in the whole 90 minutes and some players might not have done that," he said at the pre-match press conference.

The Dutchman said that his side will have to win tomorrow as only two home matches will remain after that.

"We have to give everything tomorrow. This is the time we have to take three points. It is up to us to take the chance. We have six more matches and three at home (including tomorrow) and it is time to take our chance," he said.

He was disappointed at his strikers' failure to score goals despite an attacking display.

"It is not that we're not attacking but I am disappointed at the way my players deal with the last ball. Somehow, the final ball was not coming," he said.

Van Veldhoven said "it was strange to have sat at the stands and not at the dugout".

"It was not nice feeling but they said in India rules are rules. I don't want to say much here on that issue."