Team has enough bench strength to quell Forlan absence: Mumbai coach

Mumbai City FC will not miss marquee player Diego Forlan who is set to be suspended for their all-important semi-final second leg at home due to a red card he picked up on Saturday in the first leg against Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) which they lost 2-3, their coach said.

"We have a situation. But our team has played without him at the start and we fared well. We have to play these kind of games with different stamina. It was a lesson for whole team today. A player in his position is waiting for his time and hope he can do well," Alexandre Guimaraes told reporters after the game which saw Mumbai rally from being one goal down to take 2-1 lead and then throw it away to lose 3-2.

"I can only say that after the game," Guimaraes replied to a question on whether Forlan will be missed in Tuesday's game.

"I am very sure we have the depth in our offensive bench to replace him. And I am sure that we can manage."

His ATK counterpart Jose Molina however added insult to injury by saying Forlan was frustrated causing him to foul Jewel Raja in the second half.

"I am always confident in my team. Of course we are one goal ahead and their marquee player will not play.

"One thing is clear about this is Forlan was sent off because he was frustrated that he could do nothing here," Molina said.

"With the ball we had a lot of chances, Doutie on the right and Ralte on the left. But we are not done. We have to go to Mumbai and play 90 more minutes.

"That is important. What makes me confident is to see my team working, how they play, that is what made me confident. We have to be calm and we need to be absolutely clear that in Mumbai we need to keep up the same intensity," said the Spaniard who saw his team record only their second victory at home.

On making as many as six changes to the team including dropping star goalkeeper Debjit Mazumder, Molina said: "I don't think we have a clear first 11.

"It doesn't matter if we play with Prabir or Pritam. Everyone is working. We did not have Arnab due to injury and Kinshuk is training hard from the first day and he got a chance. I am happy because I have a great team and great players trying to help the team. We will try to choose the best 11 in the next match."

--IANS

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