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Injury-hit Bagan meets Al Wehdat

New Delhi: Federation Cup champion Mohun Bagan will be looking to salvage some pride in its AFC Cup campaign when it takes on Al Wehdat of Jordan at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Amman on Tuesday.

Mohun Bagan has so far lost all its matches in Group D, the last one being the worst where it was walloped 6-0 by Kuwait SC at home.

Banking on Bhutia

The team, which finished runner-up in the I-League, would be banking on Baichung Bhutia to provide some respectability. Bhutia left India on Monday and would join the team for the match.

However, team is being dogged by injury.

Bagan will miss the talismanic striker Jose Barreto, goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee and right full-back Habibur Rehman Mondal.

However, coach Karim Bencherifa is aware there’s no point in ruing bad luck and would have to go ahead with what the team has.

“We have some injuries in the team,” Bencherifa told the AFC’s official website.

Suitable replacements

“However, we have the suitable replacements in the team and I don’t think that we will have any problems with this. Things are not easy for us in the game and hopefully we can get a convincing result,” said the Moroccan.

Jordan champion Al Wehdat won its first leg encounter 2-1 and a win on Tuesday could increase its chances of qualifying for the next round provided group topper Kuwait SC doesn’t lose to Al Karama of Syria in the other league match.

“Our win against Al Karamah gave us a big push to get back into contention to qualify from the group,” said Al Wehdat assistant coach Jamal Mahmoud.

“The players are ready for the game especially since we don’t have any local matches at the moment,” he said. — PTI

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