Preview: AFC Cup Play-off: Mohun Bagan play Club Valencia (Leg 1)

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Male, Feb 20: A second string Mohun Bagan will take on Maldives' Club Valencia in their AFC Cup play-off round at the National Stadium, here tomorrow, February 21.

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With head coach Sanjoy Sen missing the tie for personal reasons, assistant coach Shankarlal Chakraborty will take charge of the Kolkata giant in the crucial encounter.

The second leg will be played at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium on next Tuesday. Not just Sen, Mohun Bagan will also miss their important players like Sony Norde, Debjit Majumder, Pritam Kotal, Pronay Halder, Souvik Chakraborty and Jeje Lalpekhlua as they have rested for the tie.

Mohun Bagan thrashed Sri Lankan outfit Colombo FC 4-2 over two legs in the preliminary stage of the competition.

With top players missing, the focus would be on striker Balwant Singh who scored a quickfire brace in their last I-League game at home against DSK Shivajians.

Club Valencia, on the other hand, would be eager to return to winning ways after having lost all six of their last six league games which ended in December.

"Valencia are a very strong side and they have very good players. We have come here to win the game and we are fully prepared.

"For us every player is the same. Each player in our squad has the quality to play in the first team so it's not an issue for me," Mohun Bagan's assistant coach Chakraborty said on the eve of the match.

"Even without key players such as Jeje, Sony we are ready to face Valencia. They are a very good strong team with rich history and laden with trophies and have good foreigners," he said.

PTI