East Bengal face Indian Arrows challenge at Kalinga Stadium

A buoyant Indian Arrows host Kolkata giants East Bengal in the I-League here Tuesday.

Both teams are in good form with the visitors unbeaten in four games and the hosts only going down narrowly to a strong Churchill Brothers on way to picking up seven points in their last four with two wins.

Although the gulf between the two sides on paper is a given, Indian Arrows have been relentless and dangerous throughout the campaign, accounting for some big scalps along the way.

East Bengal's Spanish coach Alejandro Garcia will know that an off-day cannot be afforded against them.

Garcia has utilised the January transfer window to bolster his attack with the signing of fellow Spaniard Toni Dovale from Cyprus. Manipuri midfielder Siam Hanghal has also been drafted in on a loan deal.

Jobby Justin remains the premiere target-man for East Bengal with six quality goals in the league campaign so far and combined with Jamie Colado and Laldanmawia Ralte, there is enough flair in the attack to comfortably overcome the Arrows on their day.

"First, we must respect the Arrows team," stressed Garcia. making it clear that his team was far from being complacent going into the game.

"We know that it won't be an easy match for us and we will try to win and we have to be very competitive and do all the things we have prepared for. If we win, we will be at the top in this league," he said.

The Arrows have settled into a rhythm and their relentless pace has been causing many fancied teams issues. They have been finding new goal-scorers every day, the latest being Rohit Danu, drafted in from the India U-16 side.

There is also a sense of percentage play expected from the 'seniors' of the side like Rahul KP, Amarjit Kiyam, Boris Singh and others, and coach Floyd Pinto has exceeded expectations so far.

Pinto gave a hint of his strategy saying, "Like every match, we have prepared ourselves to be in our best possible condition and the last four games went really well.