By Ajay Majumder
KOLKATA: Mohammedan Sporting Club face a daunting task against United Sports Club at the Barasat Stadium on Thursday.
The CFL Premier Division – A fixture promises to be a intense battle involving high stakes. If Mohammedan SC, who are on 16 points, fails to win then they will be out of the out of the title contention while a negetive result would make United SC’s relegation battle harder.
Mohammedan SC’s title chase have faltered after a goalless draw against Peerless SC on Sunday, but a win against United SC would definately rekindle their hopes. Mohammedan SC are five points behind the leaders East Bengal, against whom they have the match left, there is a feeling in the camp that all is not lost yet.
“I am not willing to look at the title. That is still some time away. I am only interested in the game against United SC and we will look at other possibilities only later,” said Mohammedan SC head coach Mridul Bannerjee.
“At the beginning nobody gave us a chance but boys showed tremendous character to bring us where we are right now. The league is not over yet what we have to do is just keep winning. It’s not easy but certainly achievable,” he continued.
Like coach Bannerjee said, winning every game will not be easy, and he admitted it will not be a cakewalk against a fighting United SC.
The addition of Eric Brown has changed United SC’s fortunes as the Purple Brigade now look more dangerous, and proved this with a couple of victories against George Telegraph and Bhawanipore.
They were however pegged back by Mohun Bagan in the last game. But with the likes of Suhair VP, Sankar Oraon, Budhiram Tudu, Bello Rasaq and Manotosh Chakladar in their ranks the Partha Sen-led side is confident that they can avoid the drop.
“We have to be alert in defence against United SC. They are a strong side in attack and can cause problems for any team but with all said and done tomorrow we are going all out for the win,” coach Bannerjee concluded.
Facing United SC, The Black Panthers will be without the services of left-back Pranit Lama Tamang, who picked up a couple of yellow cards, and Kamran Farooque is likely fill in as the replacement.
Last time when these two teams meet in the CFL Premier Division in 2013, Mohammedan SC escaped with a narrow 3-2 win courtesy a goal each from Josimar, Dipendu Biswas and Basanta Singh at Saltlake Stadium.
The game at Barasat Stadium kicks off at 5.30 pm on Thursday and it will be televised live on ETV News Bangla.
Photo By Santanu Biswas.
