The Calcutta side's star striker left Goa for Calcutta this afternoon, en route to England for a recruitment trial, East Bengal officials informed today.

East Bengal, lucky to pick up a point from last night's Coca-Cola National Football League (NFL) clash against city rivals Mohun Bagan, need a win to keep in touch with Churchill Brothers, the Goan side leading the table at the moment.

Amid rumours about player dissension in their camp, East Bengal hope to offset Bhutia's absence with the return of Ghanians -- defender Jackson Agaypong and mid-fielder Emmanuel Opoku -- from suspension.

Coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya, however, denied there was a rift of any sort in his camp. Speculation based on the Calcutta press' accounts were not true, Bhattacharya said. A team meeting, the coach affirmed, revealed that all is well.

Both sides are reeling from fatigue -- acommon factor in a trying format -- but East Bengal are feeling particularly hard done by as they ready to play their third match in five days and their second in less than 48 hours. Manager Swapan Ball has approached the organisers to defer the match by a couple of hours to provide his tired team some more rest.

East Bengal hope to play Bijen Singh in place of Bhutia in an attack that normally fields eight-goal Raman Vijayan on the starting line-up. Dipendu Biswas is likely to make an entry in the second half.

The Calcutta side is struggling in the second phase of the competition, after going through the qualifiers without loosing a match. According to Bhattacharya, the club's medical director, Vece Paes, fully expects teams to drop in performances sometime during the league. The schedule makes it difficult to remain at peak form, Bhattacharya said. Both Vece and son Leander are in Goa at the moment.

Churchill Brothers' technical director Armando Colaco echoes the same grouse, but affirms that his teamwill go all out. At 10 points atop the table, a win will place the Goans in a commanding position before the second leg gets underway in Calcutta on March 9.

Mid-fielder Mahesh Akam Singh, with a bruised ankle, is Churchill's only worry.