May 3: East Bengal will look to put a string a bad results behind them when they lock horns with Chirag United at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.
For East Bengal, their recent outings barring the game against Mumbai FC have been disappointing. H
owever, Chirag are also going through a rough patch having picked up only three points from their last six matches to lie sixth in the league table with 32 points from 23 appearances.
Chirag’s Brazilian duo of Edmilson Marques and Josimaar Da Silva are in better form than their counterparts in the current East Bengal front line.
A lot will depend on East Bengal centreback Uga Okpara to keep the Chirag duo at bay.
Coach Phillippe de Ridder is also worried over the unavailability of Abel Hammond (double booking) and the uncertainty over Baichung Bhutia, who is yet to be fully fit.
“I hope we can score at least one or two goals tomorrow.”
“Inability to score has been our main drawback in the last few matches,” he said.
Injuries have taken a toll on Chirag as well ruling out midfielders Jayanta Sen and Shylo Malsawmtluanga, while centreback Eduardo Chacon is a doubtful starter.
On Tuesday, bottom club Sporting Clube de Goa will host Mahindra United at the Nehru Stadium in Margao.
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Has Houghton quit? AIFF top brass say no
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
May 3: In what could be a major setback for India just seven months before they play in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, it was learnt through sources that chief coach Bob Houghton has put in his papers.
However, the All India Football Federation top brass including president Praful Patel and general secretary Alberto Colaco denied that the English coach had called it quits.
“Houghton has handed in his resignation and will serve out three months notice period,” said a top source.
Patel strongly denied that Houghton had resigned and insisted that it was merely speculation.
“He has not resigned. We have not got his resignation, all this is just speculation. He is still the India national team coach,” Patel said.
Houghton had earlier threatened to resign if his contract was not renewed till 2013, besides demanding a hike of $10,000 per month after his current tenure ends. The coach was also ticked off by the fact that the AIFF was looking for a new coach.