Kerala Blasters striker Michael Chopra says that he is disappointed with himself following his side's narrow 1-0 defeat in their opening Indian Super League fixture against NorthEast United FC in Guwahati.
NorthEast United broke the deadlock through Koke at the stroke of halftime, and the Spanish striker's goal proved enough as the Blasters were unable to find the equaliser despite creating a number of chances.
Chopra, who was introduced in the final 20 minutes of the game, received two excellent chances to rescue a point for his side, but both his efforts were blocked.
While his first effort forced a good save from NorthEast United goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas, his second was just cleared off the line by a defender.
And the former Newcastle United striker admits that he could have done better considering his standards.
"I'm disappointed with myself because I know with my standards and my goalscoring ability, I should have equalised, but I'll be working hard to put that right and when we play I'll try my best to score," the 30-year-old striker told ISL's official website.
Nonetheless, Chopra, who started from the bench against NorthEast United due to him not being a 100 percent fit, says that he enjoyed playing after a long period of time.
"I've just come back from injury as well, and played 60 minutes in the last three weeks. I had pulled my hamstring. It's just nice to be back playing."
Although it looked like Kerala Blasters were the better side in Guwahati, Chopra feels that NorthEast United's win was not a fluke and they played equally well to beat his side.
"Credit to NorthEast United - they've done what they needed to do in the first game and they beat us," added the former Cardiff City striker.
"I think, for that goal we switched off for about 30 seconds from the throw in, and Koke capitalised on it. When you're playing a good set of players, you know that any mistake can get punished."
Finally, Chopra revealed that he was overwhelmed to hear the crowd singing his name when he came on to the pitch.
"I could hear them when I came on. They were singing "Chopra! Chopra!", and I showed my support after the game," said Chopra adding that the Blasters will "make sure" that they win the next game for the fans.
"We'll work on a few things on the training ground and make sure that we win the next game for them."
