SAS 2015: Indian defense a worry says coach

India might have bettered against Canada in their fourth match in the Sultan Azlan Shah cup on Thursday, but once again, a lopsided defense kept India at its bay, who had to struggle till the last minute to register a 5-3 win, their first in the tournament.

Agrees coach Paul van Ass, who says defense is indeed an area that needs improvement.

“The defense had worried me even before I came to India. We have lost a lot of points because of that. We are simply not strong. We often lose our head,” said Van Ass, post the match against Canada.

Though India managed to register their first win, the same mistakes on penalty corner conversion and defense crack-up were visible. Canada, who had so far scored just one goal in the tournament, made three against India itself.

In the penalty corner area, India earned eight, out of which it could only convert only two. However, coach says it is merely a part of the strategy.

“In the penalty corner, you can do more variations and you can be more pro-active. I didn’t choose to do that of course. I wanted to see (their performance) as much as possible. They don’t worry me much,” he said.

India is already out of contention from the Sunday’s final and a clear picture on third-fourth place play-off will only be clear by April 11.

“That is the only positive I have. I don’t have to calculate that (points table). From this tournament, I am just getting a better feel of the hockey we can play. I am getting to know the strengths and weakness of the team,” he added.

India will next play against Australia on April 11.