Ashley Westwood apologises to Mohun Bagan's Sanjoy Sen

‘I respect him as a fellow coach’

Bengaluru FC coach Ashley Westwood apologised to Sanjoy Sen on Tuesday after questioning the Mohun Bagan manager's "history as a coach".

Defending champions Mohun Bagan defeated Bengaluru 2-0 on Saturday. After the match, Sen exclaimed that the I-League leaders conceded the goals in "excitement".

Westwood responded to it by saying, "I am not concerned about what he says because I do not value his opinion. He doesn't have a history as a good coach. So why should I listen to what Sanjoy Sen says?"

Westwood retracted on Tuesday by posting an apology on the club's official website.

I respect him as a fellow coach: Westwood

"Much has been said after the game against Mohun Bagan and in retrospect I would like to apologise to Bagan Head Coach Sanjoy Sen for a few comments that I made with regards to him at the post-match press conference," he said.

"I respect him as a fellow coach and for the work he has done with Mohun Bagan and would like to state that in no way were my statements meant to come out the way they did."

"I have called up Sanjoy and personally apologised to him over the phone yesterday (Monday) and as a true gentleman he was very humble and accepted the apology and I believe we can move on and have a good race for the League title as competitors and friends," he added.