'We Don't Have Squad Depth Like Bangladesh': Bhutan Coach Phillips After Defeat

Bhutan played to the best of their ability for the first hour against Bangladesh. They held their defence together and occasionally broke forward on the counter-attack to create a few chances. In the end, though, a lack of fitness caught up with them, and Bhutan lost the match 1-0 to Bangladesh.

Despite the defeat in their first SAFF Championship match, Bhutan coach Gary Michael Phillips said he was satisfied with his team's performance. He praised his players' fighting spirit and effort, while also identifying the fitness shortfall and a lack of adequate preparation as among the reasons for the loss.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Phillips said: 'I am very proud of the team's performance. Everyone saw that we played well for about an hour. Unfortunately, we paid the price for the fitness gap. I said a few days ago as well that we haven't played many matches. This was our first match. The local league also ended quite some time ago. Getting the whole squad together was difficult too.'

Bhutan adopted a defensive approach against Bangladesh from the start. Their plan was to conserve energy, withstand Bangladesh's attacks and create chances on the counter. According to the coach, the plan largely worked, but the team eventually gave in to fatigue late on.

Explaining why Bhutan could not hold Bangladesh off despite a goalless first half, the coach said: 'I knew the situation would change, because our players were getting tired. We don't have squad depth like Bangladesh. Our population is small too. Maybe around 200,000 people live in Thimphu, and all our players come from there. So finding players who can last 90 or 100 minutes is hard for us.'

Phillips also rued the goal Bhutan conceded, saying his side had a chance to prevent it. 'With a bit of luck we might have scored a goal ourselves. The goal we conceded should have been dealt with better. It didn't come from a very good attack. We could have done better. I hope we will learn from this mistake,' he said.

Phillips argued that a lack of matches had left his players short of match fitness. 'With more experience and more time working together, we could have done better. Many of our players hadn't played a match for six, seven or eight weeks. If we had been able to play in the last FIFA window, the players would have been fitter and we could have given Bangladesh a tougher challenge. Tactically I was satisfied. But we suffered in the last 15 minutes. Coming back into a match on tired legs while trailing is difficult,' he said.

Several Bhutan players had to leave the field injured during the match. Asked about that, the coach said the problem in many cases was muscle strain, a consequence of the players having been out of competitive football for a long time.

After the Bangladesh match, Bhutan now face a new challenge in Sri Lanka, with only two days' rest before their next match. Phillips said: 'The next match will be tough too. We have only two days' rest. Sri Lanka will take the field fresh. So we must make sure the players recover well before the next match.'