Kathmandu (Nepal), Aug 10 : India's start to the U-20 SAFF Championship saw them scrape past Bhutan in a gruelling encounter which saw his side receive two red cards and finish the game with nine men. Head coach Ranjan Chaudhuri has called finishing a key area in which the team lacked.

While head coach Chaudhuri was full of praise for his boys who managed to hold on to the 1-0 lead against Bhutan despite being down to nine men, he also pointed out how India still need to improve while going forward.

'The way our boys fought after the two red cards is indeed commendable. It's not easy to set a stable formation with nine players, but they managed to hold the fort. It speaks a great deal about their character,' said Chaudhuri.

'Not only did they hold the fort, but they also broke through Bhutan's defence a few times. Finishing is perhaps the one area we have to work on,' Chaudhari told aiff.com.

Midfielder Manjot Singh Dhami agreed with his coach and felt that the team could only improve from then on.

'We can play much better than what we did, and we must show that in our next game. We must work on our combination and communication. But I feel the more matches we play here, the better we will get,' said Dhami. 'This is the competition phase, after all. It's all about what attitude we approach these games with.'

As India prepare for the next match against Maldives, two of their players, Pramveer and Vanlalpeka Guite will be suspended after being sent off against Bhutan. However, the Blue Colts head coach is not overwhelmed by the situation.

'Yes, we will have to replace them in our next match, but the boys are all ready. Those players who started from the bench are equally good, and now it's an opportunity for the others to fight for those two spots,' he concluded.

/IANS