On the other hand, though JCT has everything going for them, their coach Sukhvinder Singh does not want to sound overambitious and says, “We will go into the match with a basic aim of stopping our opponents.” The Sikh is always wary of his opponents and never underestimates them. “The league is still open and I feel that none of the teams can be taken lightly,” he adds.

Though Mahindra United are now in the sixth position, if they maintain their position and capitalise on other team’s mistakes, they should not be left too far behind in the race to finish on top.”

Sukhvinder was quite miffed with the ground conditions but will be forced to play his most valuable player, Brazilian striker_Eduardo da Silva Escobar. Also Marcos de Carvalho Pereira and Abdul Latif Sereki have also combined well with the rest of the boys in a short period and this has turned out to be a huge relief to the team.

But JCT will miss their dependable defender Julius Irabor Akpele, who will be out due to a groin injury and has failed to recover well in time for the match. Also young stopper Anwar Ali, who did not train as a precautionary measure, will start tomorrow. Renedy Singh is still recovering from an ankle injury.

The tale at Mahindra United camp remains the same except that striker Mohammed Rafi, will have to sit out due to double booking. Pereira adds, “He was playing well and I expected him to play better.” But so far, nothing as expected has happened to the jeepmen yet. The coach says, “The injury to NP Pradeep, Yusif Yakubu was a big blow, but I’m taking the risk of playing Yakubu, who is yet to recover fully.”

Defence is the only area the coach has been happy with and says, “The defence is looking strong with Belo Rasaq.”