As the winter sets in the city, it is the city clubs who are feeling a chill down the spine. Air India and Mahindra United are fast hurtling down the bottom of the I-League standings.
Face leaders JCT in a tough home encounter
MUMBAI: As the winter sets in the city, it is the city clubs who are feeling a chill down the spine. Air India and Mahindra United are fast hurtling down the bottom of the I-League standings. These are early days but one the eve of the fifth round matches, the two city clubs need to very quickly arrest the trend before it gets too late.
Air India, who is better placed ahead of the bigwig Mahindra United, can draw solace from the fact they have done better than their counterpart so far. But the road only gets tougher for them from here. Up next is current leaders JCT, Phagwara. It is the only club apart from Dempo, not to lose a match so far. “We have got the momentum, I admit, but maintaining it is the difficult part and we are not going to lose focus,” reiterated JCT’s long-standing coach Sukhwinder Singh.
The former National coach was at his cautious best and tried too play down the achievements so far. “I do not want to talk much. In the past too, we have done well but not enough.”
Known for an attacking brand of football, Sukhwinder dismissed having riches like Sunil Chetri, Eduardo da Silva Escobar and fourth foreigner Abdul Latif Seriki. “Yes, we have the players in the striking zone. But again we cannot get complacent. Last year too, we faltered in the middle stages. We recovered but it was too late,” the coach pointed out.
Making the road difficult for the airmen will be the fact that central defender Suleh Musah is injured and Uttam Singh is out with two yellow cards. However, Ghosh’s main custodian Raju Ekka will be finally back after a long injury layoff. “Hopefully, we can capitalise on our home advantage.” said coach Bimal Ghosh.
Eduardo, who missed the last game, is back after serving out a double yellow card suspension. While the coach said there were no worries on the injury front, it was learnt that the midfield will be the weakest link for the airmen to capitalise. Renedy Singh did not make it to the city while two others are also suffering from ankle injuries.
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