Subhasish Bose stresses on importance of maintaining clean sheets during World Cup qualifiers

With India's two back-to-back World Cup qualifiers right around the corner, fullback Subhasish Bose stressed on the importance of maintaining clean sheets in the matches.

"Maintaining clean sheets will be of paramount importance in order to stay alive in the race of the World Cup Qualifiers. We will need to be sharper in the absence of Sandesh-bhai (Jhingan)," All India Football Federation's (AIFF) official website quoted Bose as saying.

"The team is upbeat. We will leave no stone unturned to make the most out of the remaining games. We were able to do the same against Qatar. If we play to our true potential, there's no reason not to repeat it against Afghanistan and Oman again," he added.

India will play against Afghanistan on November 14 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan followed by a clash against Oman on November 19 in Muscat.

Jhingan sustained an injury in Guwahati prior to the last qualifying match against Bangladesh and will miss the matches.

Adil Khan said: "We will miss Sandesh, but the others need to step up and shoulder the responsibility now. All players are currently playing in the Indian Super League and so it shouldn't be the same problem," Khan said.