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United SC will be resuming their I-League campaign under new technical director Subrata Bhattacharya against Mumbai FC in a round 17 encounter at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
It will be the first I-League match this season for the Purple Brigade sans Eelco Schattorie and Ranti Martins Soleye as well. SAI’s Ananta Kumar Ghosh has replaced Eelco Schattorie as the new head coach while former defender Subrata Bhattacharya has been appointed as the technical director. Ranty Martins has been replaced by fellow African Adekunle Waheed, who impressed in the Calcutta Football League for George Telegraph SC.
The purple shirts played ten matches during the break and won four of them, including the penalty shootout success over East Bengal in the IFA Shield third place playoff.
Meanwhile Subrata Bhattacharya, who was in charge of United SC met the press after pre-match practice season in the evening, remains confident.
“I think this is a good team so if we play to our full potential, we will finish in a strong position, we have lots of talented young players with experienced Indian internationals. I really am impressed to see Deepak, Bello, Jayanta, Sangram, who lead the team brilliantly.”
“Mumbai FC are always a tough team to play against. We know how they play and want to get a win under our belt,” said by United assistant coach Anjan Nath.
Mumbai FC too have had some changes in personnel with two Nigerians – midfielder Ebi Sukore and striker Alfred Jaryan – added during the winter transfer window.
The first-leg fixture had ended 1-1 in Pune back in October 2013 and a draw won’t be the worst possible result for either side.
On the other hand, seventh placed United SC (18 points) are high-on-confidence to secure all three points from this home match.
On the otherside Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil expects his team to put up a good show on Wednesday. “The team is fit and is raring to go. The win has lifted the morale of the team. We hope to extend the away success into our home game.”
No doubt United SC will prime themselves to go for the jugular. They are on a six-match winless streak in the I-League and need a win in this clash over Mumbai FC to push for a better finish in the table.
