India’s head coach Khalid Jamil said it was important for his team to get a point after a 1-1 draw against Singapore. Ikhsan Fandi scored in the 46th minute for the home team to put them in front.

Furthermore, the Blue Tigers were pushed on the backfoot after Sandesh Jhingan was given a red card in the 47th minute, reducing India to a 10-man team.

Subsequently, India were able to get a point out of the match as Rahim Ali scored his maiden International goal in the 90th minute.

“Talking about the game, I want to give all credit to the boys. They worked very hard. Because of them, we got the result,” Jamil said at the post-match press conference.

“It is important to get a point after going down to ten players. We must continue with this confidence,” he added.

The Indian gaffer said his players were able to pick up their game in the second half.

“In the second half, we played better after going down to ten men,” said the head coach.

The Blue Tigers are now in third in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier standings with two points, while Hong Kong climbed to the top of the table with seven points

Jamil admitted that Singapore was energetic on the pitch and they would be disappointed to lose two points while playing at home.

“They (Singapore) are energetic. They’re a good team. They know they lost two points at home, so they will now be more prepared, and so for us at our home, we must also be well prepared to get a positive result,” said Jamil.

India will next host Singapore on October 14 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa. The match will start at 19:30 IST.