EB hope to stem JCT's flow

KOLKATA, November 29: "Last year we lost our first match (to Mohammedan Sporting) and yet finished runners-up. And this time we have made a winning start but that’s no guarantee against finishing last," JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh said, refusing to read too much into his team’s 2-1 win over Mohun Bagan last Sunday.
Sukhwinder has seen teams flounder on the home stretch and matches turn on its head at the last moment.So, on Friday when JCT play East Bengal in the I-League, complacency will be the last thing you can expect from his wards. "That’s not in my dictionary," he asserted.
East Bengal, who ran JCT ragged in the Federation Cup quarter-finals, have lost the swagger which had been on display in Ludhiana.
Their new foreign recruit Macdonald Mukansi is already being written off as a bad investment and is likely to make way for Ashim Biswas, while Mehtab Hossain will replace an injured Surkumar Singh. Syed Rahim Nabi will start as the right wing-back. Nabi, who was superb in the Fed Cup quarter-final, will, however, have to deal with a fast and furious Baljit Singh Sahni this time rather than a lion in his winter, Rennedy Singh.
Add to this the threat from Brazilian Edu. With two goals under his belt, this smiling assassin, if fit, can be the deciding factor. Unless, of course, his country cousin Edmilson turns it around for EB.