02 October 2004	Saturday	16 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 1: Pakistan hockey manager Samiullah Khan admitted on Friday that his players lacked fitness and there was a need to improve the performance of the half-line.

Speaking to journalists at the National Hockey Stadium, Samiullah explained that although India gave a stunning performance, it was mainly due to shortcomings of Pakistan.

The manager said that Mohammad Saqlain was a good player but he was not part of the team due to disciplinary action. Saqlain had been dropped by the team management before Athens on disciplinary grounds.

The former Olympian predicted a 5-2 win for Pakistan in the eight match series, the second leg of which starts in India from Oct 4 with the opener at New Delhi. Pakistan skipper Wasim Ahmed added that the 2-1 lead in the first leg gave his team an edge over their rivals before going in for the second leg.

He stated that a short training camp of four days before start of the series was not enough to prepare the team and went on to say that coming back from 2-4 deficit showed the team's fighting spirit.

Coach Roelant Oltmans said that pitch was fast and added the Indians had good forwards. He remarked that besides playing against each other India and Pakistan should also play against the European sides. The coach expressed satisfaction with the team's performance especially after being 2-4 down.