Converting chances a concern for India skipper Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri and Co. took part in a training session in Dubai before flying out to Dushanbe for its FIFA World Cup qualifier against Afghanistan.

Published : Nov 12, 2019 16:22 IST

Sunil Chhetri in training with the Indian team at the Dubai Sports City.

A day before reaching Dushanbe, India's coach Igor Stimac voiced that winning against Afghanistan is "the only thing" the team is focusing on right now after it wrapped up the solitary training session at the Dubai Sports City in Dubai on Tuesday. 

The Croatian coach further praised the facility in Dubai where the team stressed on maintaining "the shape" during the session followed by routine warm-up regimes. 

"The facility has been fantastic and we had another productive session on turf before reaching Dushanbe. We have mainly worked on the shape which will be of utmost importance against Afghanistan," coach Stimac expressed following the training session in the gulf city. 

Prior to that, the boys took part in short passing sessions while strength and conditioning coach Luka Radman worked on a few players' muscle recovery. 

"Boys are looking focused and that's most important before hitting the ground. We have taken good care of ourselves and Professor (Luka Radman) is working on the players' recovery," the 52-year-old coach maintained. 

Meanwhile, skipper Sunil Chhetri felt “converting chances” is an area where the team needs to work more as well as be a tougher unit while defending. 

“We are creating chances. But that’s not enough. We have to try our best to convert them and try to be a tougher unit while defending. We have missed against Bangladesh and we need to pull up our socks against Afghanistan. At the end of the day, if we can do better on the pitch, we’ll be happier,” Chhetri mentioned. 

"We had come here before and would be happy coming back again. The facility has been superb and this particular session is surely going to help us gel well before hitting the ground on the 14th," midfielder Pronay Halder expressed.