MARINERS NEED A POINT TO CLINCH SEMI-FINAL BERTH

McDowell's Mohun Bagan will face Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, Bangladesh in the last match of the group league to be played at the Salt Lake Stadium tomorrow. With 4 points from 2 games, Mariners need a point to progress to the semi finals while it is a must win match for the team from Bangladesh who has so far bagged 3 points from 2 games. From this group, Mohammedan Sporting has already sealed a semi-final berth. 

If Mariners wins tomorrow's game by a 4-goal margin, then they will emerge as the group Champion; however, getting 1 point or a win by less than 4 goals will mean that it will be a derby in the IFA Shield semi-final on the 11th.

McDowell's Mohun Bagan will play tomorrow's game with just 2 foreign players (Katsumi Yusa and Anyichie Echezona), as apart from Chizoba Christopher (registration issue), Captain Odafa Okolie will also be missing tomorrow's game. Odafa sought the opinion of another doctor after the last game who has advised him around 10-12 days rest including 5 days of complete rest. There is also question mark over the availability of Denson Devadas.

In the last game, we have seen that after Denson Devadas was replaced following his injury, Mariners lost control of the midfield in the 2nd half, as Karim had no other option but to field Odafa as the replacement. Karim will take the final call tomorrow morning whether to keep Denson Devadas in the squad or not after assessing his injury status. If eventually Denson does not become fully fit, Karim might use Aibor in that position, as evident from today's training session.

Katsumi Yusa and Anyichie Echezona will have to play a pivotal role tomorrow in the central midfield and central defense respectively. Mariners will also have to be careful about Sony Narde and Emeka Darlington of the Bangladesh side, both of whom have the knack of scoring goals.

The only thing that might bring smile to Karim's face is the availability of Shilton Paul. Karim said, "Shilton has become match fit, so it will be him and Monotosh who will be the 2 goalkeepers in tomorrow's squad. Shilton is in great form this season and Monotosh played really well in the last 2 games. So, either of them can play tomorrow."

Karim said, "Dhanmondi is a very good team and their situation is clear. They know that they will have to win tomorrow to advance to the semi-final stage, but since getting 1 point will help us to qualify for the next round, sometimes players tend to become a bit relaxed. I have warned the players regarding this and said to them that we will play to win. We will take the match as a knock-out quarter-final game. Sometimes, it is a complicated situation when a draw is required. I have seen Dhanmondi's match and have made my plan accordingly."

He also added, "Because of less options in some positions and injury to few key players, I am forced to use some players out of position. In the last game, I had to use a defender as the right half. However, I am confident as the team spirit looks great and some very good goals were scored in today's training session. Definitely, we will be missing quality players upfront, but that can be overcome by team spirit. When I was the Coach of Salgaocar, I still remember we won a AFC Cup game without several key upfront players."

Captain Odafa Okolie said, "In the last game, I requested Coach to give me chance to play in the 2nd half, as I wanted to help my team to win the game. However, after 10-15 minutes, I started feeling pain. I played the game on doctor's advice and I didn't have any pain before the game, but now I have been advised 10-12 days rest."

In today's training session held at the club ground, apart from warmup and physical training, there was situation practice and set-piece movement training