Churchill Brothers coach Mariano Dias: Deal with Bas Van den Brink has broken down

11-Feb-2013 10:22:00 PM

The Goan club head into the I-League break a point behind league leaders East Bengal, and are yet to find a replacement for Bilal Najjarin...

Churchill Brothers SC's current campaign suffered a set-back as Bilal Najjarin moved to Fujairah SC of UAE in the January transfer window.

It had been reliably learnt that the Goan outfit were interested in roping in the Dutch national Bas Van den Brink but the deal for the 30-year-old was fallen off instead.

"We are trying to get an African player now," revealed the Churchill head coach Mariano Dias. "The deal (to sign Bas Van den Brink) broke down."

"Without our good defenders [Dharmaraj] Ravanan and Bilal [Najjarin], it's one point gained," Dias went on to explain his side's 2-2 result against Prayag United on Sunday.

"We (Churchill Brothers) played well, but we also gave away the lead twice. We were leading in the first half and with three minutes remaining (in the first half) we gave away a goal. [In the] second half we scored, and almost immediately they equalised," he continued.

"We had a late chance, but we could not score as Bineesh [Balan] failed to convert. Overall, we played well, but they (Prayag United) also played well," the Goan side's coach added.

Dias also felt that Churchill goalkeeper Sandip Nandy could have done better for the second goal that his side conceded, but stressed that they have to make the best of the remaining fixtures.

"The second goal was a mistake by our goalkeeper. Two of our defenders were up for the ball, so he shouldn't have come out, but anyways, if we had won this game, again we would have been on the top. We have to take it match by match and every game is important. We cannot say we have to play (well) in this match and leave out that match," he said.

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