McDowell Mohun Bagan look to avenge defeat

McDowell Mohun Bagan will meet Shillong Lajong FC in an away match of I- league, to be played at Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal tomorrow at 1 p.m. Though there has been a series of bomb blasts followed by a bandh in Imphal, team reached Imphal yesterday and checked in at the hotel safely amidst high security. The players have been advised against leaving the hotel premises.
In tomorrow's match, McDowell Mohun Bagan will not avail the services of several key players of the team like Anwar Ali, Rakesh Masih, Hudson Lima who are out due to injury as well as Rahim Nabi, Jewel Raja, Sunil Chettri who are currently playing for Indian National team.

Mariners are at present in the 2nd position of the league table with 15 points from 7 matches, 6 points behind Dempo Sports Club. They look to avenge defeat against Lajong as Mariners suffered a shocking 1-3 defeat against Pradhyum Reddy's team in this year's Federation Cup.

Today the team had their practice session at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in the afternoon. The ground condition is pathetic with no sign of grass anywhere. It is very difficult to expect good football in such hard ground with uneven surface. Manager Debasish Dutta said, "It is very difficult to play in Imphal. Playing against such adversaries, any team who wins here should be given 6 points”, as he chuckled.

The 18 member squad for tomorrow's match is as follows: Sangram Mukherjee, Shilton Paul, Surkumar Singh, Kingshuk Debnath, Dhanarajan, Sourav Chakraborty, Daniell Carl Zeleny, Gouranga Dutta, Snehasish Chakraborty, Ashim Biswas, Souvik Chakraborty, Odafa Okolie, Jose Ramirez Barreto (captain), Jagtar Singh, Daljit Singh, Manish Maithani, N. P. Pradeep, Murali Joseph

Five players from McDowell Mohun Bagan who have a yellow card to their names are: Sangram Mukherjee, Souvik Chakraborty, Sunil Chettri, Gouranga Dutta, Kingshuk Debnath.