And after finding themselves as the top Mumbai outfit in the league table at No. 4 at one stage earlier in the season, Air-India have fallen down to the eighth spot as they prepare to combat defending champions Dempo at home on Friday.

While fellow Mumbai teams Mumbai FC and Mahindra United have made amends in the second phase of the league, Bimal Ghosh’s team have struggled to even manage draws, and are currently on a three-match losing streak.

Air-India struck first against Mohun Bagan at Cooperage, only for Jose Barreto to put on a magical display of skill and take the game away from the home side.

Ghosh insisted that the refereeing in most games that his team had been involved in this season were of a very poor standard, and had played a huge part in their dwindling fortunes. “We haven’t played to our best either but some of the decisions have gone clearly against us, which at this level is unpardonable,” he said. Ghosh noted that another serious issue that had affected Air-India were the various offers that a number of his players had received from other teams.

“I am not blaming the players for it. But it obviously ends up being a huge distraction for them and their commitment towards the team’s cause also starts diminishing,” said the veteran coach.

And things weren’t getting any better, he quipped, as Air-India will go into the match against the Goan giants plagued with a number of injuries and cards.

Chukwuma Odafia, Emmanuel Ovieghara, Samson Singh, Napoleon Singh, Vijith Shetty, Soccor Velho and Syed Farid are some of the big names that Ghosh will be forced to do without in the line-up.

“But what it does do is give me a chance to test our reserve bench in an important match,” he said, while adding with a snicker that whenever he had tried his second-string side, they had ended up being successful.