Mumbai: A spate of injuries has added to the woes of Kolkata giants East Bengal, who are already battling an inconsistent form, before their crucial I-League seventh round match against a struggling Air India at the Cooperage here on Saturday.
The visitors will miss the services of India skipper Bhaichung Bhutia, Renedy Singh and Sanju Pradhan who have decided to stay back due to injuries.
Besides, centre-back Mehrajuddin Wadoo and Ghanaian striker Yusif Yakubu are battling back strain and heel problem respectively.
To further rub salt into the wounds of the visitors, who are lying at the ninth place in the table with six points from as many matches, Mehtab Hussain will be forced to sit out having been booked twice.
Meanwhile, Air India too have worries of their own as their Nigerian recruit and leading goal scorer of the tournament N D Opara will miss Saturday’s match due to double bookings.
The home team has five points from as many matches and are languishing at the 12th place in the table.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 06, 2009, 22:03