"It was an emotional moment for me to play against Hyderabad" - Odisha FC's Vignesh Dakshinamurthy on returning to face his parent club | ISL 2023-24
Hyderabad FC's Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, who went out on loan to Odisha FC in the winter transfer window, came back to the Maidaan in Gachibowli to play against his parent club in the Indian Super League on Monday.
Turning out for the Kalinga Warriors this time, Vignesh put in an outstanding performance at left-back and completed a high passing accuracy of 90 percent.
The 25-year-old played in a rather high position and came face-to-face with Hyderabad's right winger Abdul Rabeeh. The two had a brilliant duel on the wings and although the spoils were shared evenly, Vignesh won 60 percent of the tackles he made.
Quite naturally, he was one of the stars for the Kalinga Warriors when they took the game 3-0 from the Nawabs thanks to a goal from Roy Krishna and a brace from Diego Mauricio.
Speaking to Sportskeeda after the game, Vignesh conceded that coming back to the Maidaan was quite an emotional moment for him.
"For sure, it was an emotional moment for me to play against Hyderabad FC at the Maidaan. I never imagined such a scenario before and the decision I took was purely because of the situation the club was going through. The players and staff who are still with the club are fighting hard. Their character of not giving up- it acts as an inspiration for me. My respect and prayers for them have only grown," said a visibly sentimental Vignesh.
When commended about his impressive stats during the game, the humble Vignesh was quick to say that he still has a long way to go in comparison to the other fullbacks in the country.
"First of all, I am very happy about the win yesterday. As everyone knows, coach Sergio Lobera likes to play attacking football. So, as a player, it’s my duty to understand his game style and improve in that aspect. Even though the stats seem good it is still less in numbers compared to the other fullbacks playing in the league," he added.
"There is a lot of room for improvement in my game" - Vignesh Dakshinamurthy
Odisha, who went to the top of the table at the end of the game with 30 points inside their kitty, will face a tough challenge from FC Goa, whom they host on Friday.
The Gaurs are perched just one spot below them in the standings and have played three games less than them in the league. Add to that, the Kalinga Warriors continue to fight in the AFC Cup. Such a cramped schedule means that Sergio Lobera's men need to recover well to perform on the pitch.
"It won’t be an easy task to stay at the top, as you know the league is getting more competitive and in the second leg you can not predict what will happen. In a short period of time, a lot of games are coming up and we have to be prepared and take care of ourselves. And again, what is worthy won’t come easily; we have to put in the work. The team has worked immensely hard to get to this position. I want to work harder and try to help the team achieve the desired success," said Vignesh.
When questioned about how well he has adapted to his new club, the Srirampura-born lad said that it was not that difficult since he had worked with Sergio Lobera in the past at Mumbai City.
The down-to-earth fullback, who is expected to come back to Hyderabad after his loan ends with the Kalinga Warriors after the ongoing season, reiterated that he needs to keep working hard on his game to improve.
"As I said before, there is a lot of room for improvement in my game. I need to keep working on it. In my case, the adage 'you play how you train' holds true. I have to give full credit to the coaching staff who are helping me to improve each day at the training ground. It's the training that is making all the difference in my game," he concluded.