Savio Medeira, the Indian national team coach, expressed his pleasure given the manner in which his side gave a decent account of themselves in the second half though the final score read 3-0 against Azerbaijan on Monday.

India are preparing for the Challenge Cup which kicks-off next month wherein a place in the Asian Cup 2015 is set to be contested given that the winner of the competition automatically qualifies for the biggest continental championship.

The Blue Tigers have already lost 5-1 to Oman last week and against Azerbaijan, Medeira made several changes to the line-up as promised to give all the players participating in the camp a fair chance to showcase their talent in order to make the cut for the final 23 member squad.

I am happy with the determination and attitude of young players – India’s Savio Medeira
“The work rate, attitude and the shape of the team was good. For sure, this was a better performance than what we saw against Oman,” Medeira told Goal.com.

“Our midfield was new (different from the last game) and they kept the game going. I hope they continue their good work for the remaining part of our preparations before we head into the Challenge Cup.”

India shall next face the Iranian club from UAE on March 1 before they head off to Nepal for the Challenge Cup.

“In the next match, we shall field some other players who haven’t got a chance. We have a few players who are injured and recuperating. Sunil Chhetri is ready but I didn’t want to risk him today. Nirmal Chettri has started jogging, Rocus Lamare is recovering too.

“From this match against Azerbaijan, I am happy that at least the youngsters shown the right determination and attitude. I must add that we need to work on our concentration lapses which results in giving away silly goals. But we need to remember that this is a big step for the young players.”