Red and Gold pulling out all stops for derby

Kolkata: In a must win situation to be in the title race, East Bengal would leave no stone unturned to return to winning ways as they face arch rivals Mohun Bagan in their derby match of the I-League on Saturday.

From showing a clipping of mountain climber Aron Ralston who survived a 2003 canyoneering accident in which he was forced to amputate his arm himself to free himself from a trapping for five days, to changing the team strategy, coach Trevor Morgan is doing his best to return to winning ways. Having lost to United SC in the previous round in a dramatic fashion, last year`s runners-up East Bengal`s gap against leaders Dempo (40 points) has stretched to six and further drop means title hopes would be all but over. Besides listening to motivational talks by newly-hired psychologist Soumitra Chatterjee for the last two days, Morgan is also working on a 4-4-2 formation that translates to Tolgay Ozbey pairing up with Delhi youngster Robin Singh to add more sting to their attack. The new psychologist has instilled a new mantra in the team members as the camp today echoed the slogan `Who am I? I am the champion` as the boys in red-and-gold brigade stuck to their basics. As Mohun Bagan had the advantage of their first leg derby win (1-0) courtesy Odafa Okolie`s goal from penalty, East Bengal would really need to motivate themselves. "It`s always 50-50. We have to be both physical and mentally fit. We needed Chatterjee to come out of the bad patch. He is not a psychologist but a motivator," Morgan said. "There is no additional pressure of this match, the way people are making it out to be. It is another important I-League match with three points at stake. "Mohun Bagan are playing well and Odafa Okolie is their main man upfront as he has been regularly among the goal scorers. However, we have plans and hope we would stick to them," he said. One point behind East Bengal, Mohun Bagan (33) appeared relaxed. The team think-tank appears to ponder about seniormost pro Jose Barreto`s role, while Syed Rahim Nabi`s hamstring injury too is a cause of concern. "We would like to see him (Barreto) control the match by means of his skill and experience. He would play only if he`s fully fit," coach Prasanta Banerjee said. The players would observe one-minute silence to mourn the soccer tragedy in Egypt where 74 people died in violence. Being their home match, East Bengal would also brought in 400 school children to cheer for them. "It's always 50-50. We have to be both physical and mentally fit. We needed Chatterjee to come out of the bad patch. He is not a psychologist but a motivator," Morgan said. "There is no additional pressure of this match, the way people are making it out to be. It is another important I-League match with three points at stake. "Mohun Bagan are playing well and Odafa Okolie is their main man upfront as he has been regularly among the goal scorers. However, we have plans and hope we would stick to them," he said. One point behind East Bengal, Mohun Bagan (33) appeared relaxed. The team think-tank appears to ponder about seniormost pro Jose Barreto's role, while Syed Rahim Nabi's hamstring injury too is a cause of concern. "We would like to see him (Barreto) control the match by means of his skill and experience. He would play only if he's fully fit," coach Prasanta Banerjee said. The players would observe one-minute silence to mourn the soccer tragedy in Egypt where 74 people died in violence. Being their home match, East Bengal would also brought in 400 school children to cheer for them. PTI