GOA: Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat has explained the reason behind his decision to bench Indian winger Udanta Singh in their last two matches in the ongoing seventh season of Indian Super League (ISL).
Udanta, who had extended his contract with the Blues until 2022-23 season, didn't feature in the first half of the last two games. Cuadrat said that the Indian winger is a valuable player for his team but at the same time maintaining the overall balance during the game is more important.
"Udanta is a very valuable player for us. He is from the national team, he has good pace and it is important to have players with good pace because they break the defensive line of the other team," goal.com quoted Cuadrat as saying.
"But at the same time, I have to try to get a balance team and I think that now Cleiton (Silva) playing on the right and Suresh helping us in the center of the pitch, we have a good balance in the team," he added.
The Spanish boss said he is happy with Udanta's performance and asserted that it is good for the side that he appears in the second half.
"So it is true that in the last two games, I have been using Udanta to try to take advantage of the space when the game is more open," said Cuadrat.
"So I am happy with the performance of him against NorthEast United and Kerala Blasters. It is good for the team that he appears in the second half," he added.
Bengaluru FC is unbeaten this season and will look to extend their run when they face Odisha FC at the GMC Stadium, Bambolim, on Thursday.