Robin to travel with the 20 men East Bengal squad for Pune & Goa
Kolkata: Star Indian forward Robin Singh joins Kingfisher East Bengal training today in the morning and immediately earns the applaud from coach Trevor James Morgan, as he said, “First and foremost Robin is a really good player. I haven’t brought him just because he had been here before. I have brought him here because he can do a very good job for us this season. He has done really well in his previous club, did well in the ISL over the years and it makes my job easier because I know him, I know his character, I know where he plays and that makes a big difference. He was here, he knows me, he knows the players. He is ready to go!”, he added, “In the morning I asked him to do some extra work, which he did. He seemed fine, Since the ISL finished, he worked really hard in the gym, he trained hard himself, but it’s a little different when you are fit and when you are match fit. So, we’ll see, he looked absolutely fine in the training.”
The East Bengal gaffer also informed that the Indian International would be travelling with the side for the next two away games against DSK Shivajians and Churchill Brothers. Despite the availability of Robin in the side, Morgan seemed focused on his constructive passing football. He said, “It’s true that both Robin and Plaza are tall and have good physique and if we can bring in good crosses for them, they can meet with the goal-scoring headers. But the teams have good defenders in the league and it might seemed predictable. We want to create moves by rolling the ball on the floor, neat passing at a good pace and they are good enough to adjust with it as well.” At the same time, Trevor clarified,”We really needed Robin to be there in the side. We need players on the up front who can score goals. We were very light on the attacking front but now we have at least four good attacking options on the front with Robin, Plaza, Haokip and the new Asian foreigner coming in. We now have good balance in the side.” Robin will wear the no.24 jersey for the Red & Gold brigade, as his favourite no.23 jersey is already been taken by Bikash Jairu.
In their opening game against Mohun Bagan, Churchill didn’t have any foreigner in the side but against East Bengal, they will field four foreigners in the starting XI. But Trevor seemed determined, “We have enough strength to grab six points in our next two games and we are preparing well to get those.” The East Bengal side will be facing DSK Shivajians on Saturday to play their first away game. The coach seemed focused but giving a lot of respect to his next opponent. He told, “Well, they have some really experienced I-League payers with some quality international players in their ranks. They are a talented side but we are confident to get the three points considering the fire power we have in the side.”