Mohun Bagan faces spirited Real Kashmir in I-League

Former champions Mohun Bagan will be bolstered by the return of a fit-again Sony Norde when they face a spirited Real Kashmir FC in their I-League fixture here Sunday.

Having missed a fourth consecutive match for his muscle injury, the I-League winning star Haitian forward was seen training in full flow and was named in the 18-member squad.

Overcoming their derby loss, Mohun Bagan won back-to-back matches against Minerva and Shillong Lajong FC but only to falter against Neroca FC in their previous encounter to slip to sixth position on the table.

"Sony is fit now and will be in the 18-man squad. Our target is to get three points at any cost," coach Shankarlal Chakraborty told reporters on the eve of the match.

With the team having a long injury list that has the likes of Pintu Mahata, Sukhdev Singh and the latest being Sourav Das, the return of Norde will be a big relief for the team who have won only one from six matches at home.

With Norde back, the Mohun Bagan coach may look to bench last season's leading scorer Aser Dipanda, while giving a central role to Henry Kisseka.

In the first leg, Real Kashmir lost to Mohun Bagan by a solitary goal and since then the debutants are on a unbeaten run from six matches.

"The first leg match was different. It was a different ground, different conditions. Currently they are ahead of us so we have to focus on the game," the Mohun Bagan coach said.

"I have told everyone to forget about what we did in the first phase. We have to focus on the second leg. Currently we are concentrating on Real Kashmir game.

"Real Kashmir are a good side, they are in good form at the moment and are very consistent. They have very good foreign players. The Indian players are also supporting them. We have to be very cautious against them. They did well against EB too."
Asked about their first leg defeat, he said: "We did our bits. But it's a different ball game playing here in a bigger ground. We have done well against EB hopefully my players will do well against Mohun Bagan."
"MB lost the last game, so there is of course a lot of pressure. Playing in front of home crowd so many fans is difficult. They have not been great at home."
They may be in the midst of a dream run in their debut season but coach Robertson said "We have to be realistic."