Tampine Rovers coach calls Mohun Bagan favourites in AFC Champions League qualifier tie

TAMPINE ROVERS HEAD COACH Varadaraju Sundramoorthy said kept Mohun Bagan ahead in tomorrow's AFC Champions League (Preliminary Round) clash at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

Speaking to reporters in the pre-match press conference, Sundramoorthy was frank about how things were in his camp ahead of this knock-out encounter,

"You have played 3 games. You have a good momentum. As for us we're in pre-season, we're just starting things up... our defence and the goalkeeper need a bit of gelling, which is natural when it comes to a new team... definitely we're underdogs, and Mohun Bagan are the favourites."

That said, he promised to give the I-League champions a run for their money when the ball is set rolling tomorrow night,

"I've seen Mohun Bagan's last 3 games in the I-League and I'm very impressed with them. I feel they're a good team with great attacking capabilities. They have a good striker from Trinidad & Tobago [Cornell Glen]... he's a typical scorer. Given space and time he can hurt us. I was very impressed with what I saw in Katsumi. He's hard-working and technically very good. And he can create goals...I feel it's going to be a good game."

Singapore have a domestic football season runs from February to December, which means the Tampine Rovers are showing up without a full squad. And their biggest signing, prominent English Premier League player Jermain Pennant (Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke City, FC Pune City) has not travelled with the team. The coach said the team will miss his presence,  

"Jermaine Pennant was not registered on time for this game... Pennant is a big player and he could have been a good influence in a game like this. It's a big miss for us. I wish he was playing, but that's football you know. You have to move on and make do with the players you've got."

That said, Sundramoorthy said he was taking the Asian commitment seriously and he hoped to make an impression in Asia's biggest club competition,

"You can see our ambition by the fact that we have signed Pennant. That means we mean business. That means we'll try to win the game and go as far as possible in the Champions League. It's important for us... we're playing away and they're an aggressive side. But we're prepared and we'll give them a good fight."

Saying he was impressed by the Salt Lake Stadium - one of the biggest football stadiums in the world, which turned 32 years old just yesterday - the S-League runner-up coach said that playing here adds to the excitement of the match,

"I'm happy to play in a big stadium like this, in front of so many fans. It will be a good exposure for the boys."

One of the prominent attackers in the Tampine Rovers squad, Fazrul Nawaz, however, sounded like he smelled a good opportunity to get a win over Mohun Bagan,

"All of us are confident going into this match. We'd like to get an early goal to break Bagan's momentum. Hopefully all of us can give a good performance and score a few goals."

Tampine Rovers have played two Indian clubs in the past - East Bengal and Bengaluru FC - in the AFC Cup and lost both matches.