'We could have easily won the game' - Stuart Baxter happy with Odisha's performance in the second half

After trailing by a goal in the first half, Odisha came back strongly in the second to snatch a point away from Hyderabad in an Indian Super League (ISL) tie on Tuesday.

Head coach Stuart Baxter was impressed with how his players reacted strongly in the second half. He applauded them for sticking to the game plan.

"I thought we started the game very well. We set out to press high and we surprised them (Hyderabad)," said Baxter after the match. "So we got a little bit of joy from that. Then they started to get out of that pressure and they played the ball in wide areas and then we struggled with that down the flanks. We struggled to get support out of our wide players.

"Second half we changed the way we pressed upfront and as soon as we lost the ball we did better. They didn't have the joy that they had in the first half and our attacking play was good. I am impressed by the way the younger lads played. They knew the pressure, they got a game plan and stuck to it. We never were the team who can be put away easily."

He suggested that with the performance his team gave in the second half of the match, they could have very well sealed three points against a strong team like Hyderabad.

"We could have easily won the game. If you get away with difficult periods that we had in the first half, it was a new back four, Steven Taylor had to pull out, Sajid played his first game, Jacob Tratt back as a centre back. It was a big ask against what I consider is one of the best teams in the league. So we got through that period and I asked the players to give 10 per cent more than what they were playing and they gave it. We should have won the game."

Baxter also mentioned that they are in no position at present to think about the playoffs and are rather planning to focus on one match at a time.

"If we start thinking about the play-offs someone will take me to the lunatic asylum because we have such a long way to go. That would be wrong, if I start to think about the playoffs based on where we are right now then I will be doing the players a total disservice. We need to look at our next game, need to do better than what we did tonight, win a couple of games and then later in the season if we are anywhere close to the play-offs spot then we can make a strike for it."