Agencies
KOLKATA: East Bengal will be looking back at their favourable record against Churchill Bros in the season as they take on the latter in the round 17 I-League football match at Salt Lake Stadium, here, on Saturday.
East Bengal routed Churchill Bros 3-0 when the two met in the sixth round in the first leg. Things have shaped up differently ever since for Churchill Bros, who have remained unbeaten in the last eight rounds, where they have won seven and just drew once.
The former champions from Goa are deservedly at the top of the standings with 34 points from 14 matches. The initiative will on the Goa side to continue their unbeaten run while East Bengal will seek to regain the title hunt.
East Bengal’s journey has been interspersed with occasional setbacks that have halted the team’s progress. The Kolkata giants have suffered three losses, all of which happen in the last six rounds. East Bengal’s English coach Trevor James Morgan had been a worried man lately with his team’s striking-line misfiring regularly. The coach had some moment of respite in the last round when the team returned to winning form after losing against ONGC in the 15th round.
“We have played Churchill Bros twice in the season but have not lost against them. We are playing them tomorrow at home and two aspects combine to give us some confidence ahead of the match,” said Morgan while hoping to repeat the first leg’s result. The East Bengal coach has included the Australian striker Andrew Borisic in the squad of 18, expecting the player’s international transfer papers will arrive a day ahead of the match. East Bengal will miss Sanju Pradhan because of injury and apart from this, there are no problems of injury or suspension. Harmanjot Khabra, who missed couple of rounds with injury, is making a comeback.
Morgan did not wish to be drawn into a psychological duel when he was asked whether the match will be a tactical battle between him and the Churchill Brothers technical director Subhash Bhowmick. “It will be a match between two teams, not two coaches. I am not focusing on opponent coach but on the opponent team. Both of us will be on the bench during the match while the players will be on the ground,” Morgan said.
The East Bengal coach said his team will be looking to pick up another win and not look at the position of the opponent. “We played well to win our previous match and will try to continue with the form and get a favourable result. It is true the match is very important for us and we will treat it accordingly,” he added.
The kick-off is at 2 p.m.
