Blasters keen to learn from negatives and move on

Kerala Blasters aim to bounce back after consecutive losses, facing Hyderabad FC in ISL with key players missing.

After two consecutive losses which pushed them down in the league table, Kerala Blasters have a good opportunity to climb up again when they play Hyderabad FC in the ISL at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday. The Blasters are in the 10th rung with eight points while Hyderabad is just below them with four points.

But Blasters, who missed star striker Noah Sadaoui in the last two games with an injury, will also be without Ghanaian forward Kwame Peprah who was sent off with a second yellow, for removing his jersey while celebrating a goal, in the last match against Mumbai City.

Peprah’s goal, which levelled the score 2-2, marked Blasters’ brilliant comeback in Mumbai and with his send-off things went horribly wrong and the Kochi side lost 2-4. Blasters are now keen to learn from that experience.

“You can’t let the losses influence your mind too much, you have to move on. My job now is to helpthe team take the negatives as learning points and continue to play like we were playing around the 70th minute before we got that red card,” said Blasters’ head coach Mikael Stahre on Wednesday.

“We know we are in a situation where we need three-pointers, that’s clear.”

Kwame’s absence will mean captain Adrian Luna will have a lot more work to do against Hyderabad.