Kolkata: Back to winning ways after a hat-trick of draws and a loss at home, Mohun Bagan will look to continue it’s momentum when they take on the second placed Minerva Punjab at the Viveknanda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium here on Wednesday.
It was 4-0 to Bagan’s favour when the sides last met in Kolkata, but both have gone in opposite directions since then. While the Mariners have struggled to grin out results, Minerva have lost just one and is second in standings on 16 points, two behind East Bengal who have played two games more.
They play Shillong Lajong after this game, which means they can well dispose East Bengal on top by the weekend, when they play the same amount of matches as the Kolkata giants.
“We will play for a win. We know Bagan have a very good side, but remember we managed to hold them at home. So we will not go down without putting up a fight,” said head coach Khogen Singh who also feels that the League is a long journey and his players are gaining experience from every match.
Just their second year into the competition, the Chandigarh based side have already transformed into potential title contenders scoring 10 goals, seven of which have come from different players, three among whom are Indians.
But for a team that has often fielded four U-22 players and five local Punjabi boys lack of experience may make the final difference between the early pace-setters and title- challengers. Khogen however feels his youngstars will soon understand the significance of the league and that might be enough for them to clinch the title.
Bagan on the other won their last encounter against defending champions Aizwal but that came at the cost of a change in the hot seat and newly appointed coah Sankarlal Chakraborty said, “We are trying hard to do well but unfortunately that’s not happening. No one wants to lose or draw, but it happens. The big teams, who are title contenders, will never want a bad patch to continue. We have promised to come back soon. Last match we had won, but we have to improve.”
Despite the win, forwards Dipanada Dicka and Ansumana Kromah were guilty of squandering some easy chances and both along with goalkeeper Shilton Paul are doubtful due to niggles. So is Haitian Sony Norde who is yet to recover from injury.
That however puts extra responsibility on Cameron Watson, whose perform on Sunday was Influential to Bagan’s 2-0 win over Aizwal and the Mariners will surely hope that the Australian leads from the front in the absence of Norde.