Bagan to be aggressive against Mumbai FC

Kolkata: Their campaign back on track after registering maiden win of the I-League in the last match, Mohun Bagan will look to build on the momentum when they face Mumbai FC in a round six match at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here from Thursday. In stark contrast to their bitter rivals East Bengal, who have pocketed two titles this season (Federation Cup and the local league) and are on a roll with six straight wins in the I-League, Bagan had a pathetic start that saw the team part ways with Stanley Rozario and veteran Subhas Bhowmick being roped in as technical director. The `Bhowmick-effect` has started to show as the change in guard brought in a fresh lease of life with the struggling green-and-maroon winning against JCT in previous match and holding champions Dempo in a spirited display in round four. "Winning is a habit. We have won the last match and hope to build on with it," Bhowmick said after practice today.With their key striker Edeh Chidi yet to recover, Bagan will have to bank on Jose Ramirez Barreto and Subair Muritala Ali to bring in the goals. Having missed out from the starting line-up against JCT,Ishfaq Ahmed and Gauranga Biswas are likely to start as Bhowmick will have a watchful strategy against the Mumbai outfit. "We will be cautiously aggressive. I`ve not seen much of Mumbai FC so (coach) Sujit Chakraborty`s inputs will be really helpful," Bhowmick said. A relatively inexperienced side, Mumbai FC, on the other hand, had a dream start winning their first three matches until they got a thrashing from Churchill Brothers and Dempo in their last two matches to dent their confidence.The Khalid Jameel-coached side has three foreigners in Henry Ezeh (striker), Evans Quao (defender) and Ebi Sukore (midfielder) as they will also bank on the experience of Noel Wilson, Th Bungo Singh and Lalwampuia to counter the rival midfield. In points tally, Mumbai FC (nine) are ahead of Mohun Bagan (five). PTI