Sabyasachi Bagchi, Siliguri: East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan will be all set to restore pride when his team will take on Mohun Bagan in the mouth-watering Kolkata derby tomorrow at the Kanchenjunga Stadium. The East Bengal coach has made it very much clear in the press conference, that, a win on tomorrow’sderby can keep them in the championship race.
Trevor Morgan heaped praise for his midfield general Mehtab Hossain in the pre-match press press conference, as he said, “Mehtab’s been a fantastic player for East Bengal, he has been a great servant. I hope he can finish his East Bengal career on a winning note. Others are well aware of how Mehtab has played for us, I don’t have to go around and tell them (the players) to play for him”.
Trevor doesn’t see much of a difference between the first leg and the tomorrow’s second leg of the derby this season. Though, he pointed out that things would get tough for them if they lose considering they are three points behind league leaders Aizawl FC.
The Red and Gold boss also made it clear that his team is prepared for the high-voltage encounter. ” The preparation has been okay. The long break can work two ways. We gave the players 10-12 days off, trained hard last week and also played two practice games. Tomorrow will be the test to see.” Most of the focus on the eve of the match was on veteran Mehtab Hossain, for whom this could be the last derby considering his promise of leaving East Bengal after ten years if they fail to win the I-League.
Trevor also stated how much he is eager to prove a point in this game as he said, “No difference. With four games to go, it will be very difficult to pick up points if we won’t win tomorrow. If we win, we go four points clear of Mohun Bagan and if we lose, Mohun Bagan will be two points ahead of us with a game in hand. We do depend on other teams but it wouldn’t matter who we are playing tomorrow. What it will depend upon is that do we pick up points or not.”
The coach openly challenged his boys to answer his criticism as he said, “Their current form shows that they are in a better form. Our players have to wear the shirt and show what it means to them. I have been very disappointed by the boys in the last two games, tomorrow is the day to make it right.”
Lastly, he seemed to have a huge sigh of relief to inform that his star Haitian midfielder Wedson Anselme could be included in the playing eleven after a long injury layoff. “Wedson is in the squad. He has been out for five weeks so his fitness levels are not going to be up to others. But yes, he has scored a goal in one of the practice games we played mid-week,” he concluded.