I don't want to show too much favouritism: Coach Robertson on son

KOLKATA:

Real Kashmir

coach David Robertson on Sunday said the pressure was more on him than his son,

Mason

, who struck a double to help his team stun Mohun Bagan in the

I-League

.


The 23-year-old midfielder quit Scottish FC Peterhead FC for a full-time contract with the I-League debutantes Real Kashmir, coached by his father, who joined the side in January 2017, after a stint in the USA.

The 50-year-old helped his side secure promotion to the top flight, making them the the first team from Kashmir to do so.

The father-son duo have able to weave magic together. The central defender Mason doubles up as an attacking midfielder and has scored four goals from 10 matches.

"There's more pressure on me because he's my son. He fits in here. I always had doubts that whether he could play at this level and fit in.

"He has to play 10 times better than any other player to stay in the team. I don't want to show too much favouritism," Robertson said.

With their sixth win from 11 matches, Real Kashmir have closed in on leaders Chennai City, reducing the deficit to three points.

"It will be a bit premature to say that we can win now. My first aim was to avoid relegation. Today I can say we have enough points to stay up. Who know what will happen. It's a long way to go," said the 50-year-old who won three caps for Scotland.

The Scot said the team was driven by the passionate fans of Kashmir.

"There's never been I-League football in Kashmir. It's always special for the people of Kashmir. When we play home game, we have 15,000 passionate fans following us. Probably 90 per cent of the game is our passion. It comes from the support."

Real Kashmir have capped a fine sojourn in Kolkata as the win over Mohun Bagan came after East Bengal dropped points in their previous match.

"They pass balls quick, we play quick in the air. We didn't want to be chasing around. Today's game could have gone either way. It's not that we dominated throughout."

"Obviously Mohun Bagan have not got results. We knew if we played deep down we could get something from the game. It was just fantastic. It was certainly unexpected. We held on and got the three points which was very very important," he said.

Real Kashmir next face former champions Aizawl FC before taking on Shillong Lajong in successive away fixtures.