'Every coach's concern': Fulton on missed penalty corner chances against Japan

Admitting that the Indian mens hockey teams penalty corner conversion rate in the drawn Asian Champions Trophy match against Japan is concerning head coach Craig Fulton assured that his side is not far away from finishing things perfectlyIndia managed to score only one goal off 15 penalty corners in the 11 draw against reigning Asian Games champions Japan at the Asian Champions Trophy on FridayIt was a contrasting display compared to the hosts convincing 72 triumph over China in the opener where six of the goals came through the cornersIts every coachs concern if you are not converting your chances whether corners or field goals So you always try to work out why and try to find a solution for that and combinations of players together Fulton said at the postmatch press conferenceIts not that we are not playing in our system We are playing the way we want to play and even tonight Friday we had twothree really good counters We are one phase away from finishing the way we want toAlso Read Asian Champions Trophy Indian physio helps Pakistan team stay fitHowever Fulton gave due credit to the Japanese for defending well and making India toil to attain success through corners and even field goalsJapan defended and attacked well They were moving well At halftime we regrouped We showed in the following quarters how we got back into the game They also defended their penalty corners wellWe didnt convert our corners but not for the lack of trying Its a good lesson and we will go again he addedIt was also noted against Japan that the Indians mainly focused on gaining the penalty corners inside the box and refrained from taking regular shots at the goalHowever Fulton backed his players to decide at that given point in time and was delighted that his side won several corners and creating enough goalscoring chancesIts situational We want our players to shoot They have the license to shoot They make the next best decision on instinct about whats in front of them and we back thatThe fact that we are winning a lot of corners is good We have had a few shots But we are still in the tournament We got a draw out of this gameOf course we wanted to win it and had enough chances Its not a nice feeling but we have got to get better and be ready for the next game he concludedIndias forward line was guilty of wasting plenty of chances as ace drag flicker and skipper Harmanpreet Singh emerged as the home teams lone goalscorer of the matchAsked if there was any pressure on him or his team to convert penalty corners into goals Harmanpreet said We have no pressureWe keep trying to put and do our best Japans defence was good We were following the instructions that we received So we know what we need to do in the next tie against MalaysiaWe will try to attack the areas that gave us goals in the opening game vs China We would also try something new he signed offWith agency inputs