Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia said he was fielded late in the match against Tajikistan in the AFC Cup because of injuries.

"I was carrying injuries, which is the reason coach Bob Houghton gave me enough time to recover and fielded me in the second half," Baichung told reporters.

Baichung was instrumental in India's strong comeback to level 1-1 after trailing most part of the first half against Tajikistan in the group-A match of the AFC Challenge Cup on Friday.

Baichung said that though the team did not start off as planned and as disciplined as he would have liked but still since a lot of players were coming back from injury the performance was decent enough.

"I think we did not start with the kind of discipline we are working on, I think it's a bit frustrating but there were young players like Baldip who got a start today and there were a few players who came back from injury and considering these things I think the team did well," the skipper said.

He also advocated the need for rest for the senior players and said that the coach is the best person to decide on when to give a rest to the players.

"Coach knows how much play he can extract from the seniors, accordingly he gives rest to them," he said.

A draw against Turkmenistan on Sunday would take India to the semis and Baichung was confident of the team achieving the feat.

"Even if we draw the next match, we will qualify for the semifinals," the star striker said.