Injuries force out Norde & Eduardo out of AFC Cup qualifier; Katsumi blames fatigue

THE MOHUN BAGAN TEAM is dealing with injury and fatigue issues ahead of their double leg AFC Cup qualifiers against Colombo FC.

The Mariners' star winger and attacker-in-chief Sony Norde had a sub-par game against DSK Shivajians and afterwards was seen limping on his way to the team bus. And now news has emerged that he will miss the trip to Colombo for Tuesday's away leg of the qualifier.

Eduardo Ferreira, a defender, had a poor game against the Shivajians where he went down grabbing his hamstring several times. And it seems he is likely to miss the upcoming match as well.

Captain Katsumi Yusa, speaking to some local reporters, acknowledged that fatigue has played a part to create this situaton,

"Most of us played in the ISL where the fixture was very dense. Then we didn't really have much of a rest and the I-League started, where we played 5 matches in 16 days. So a lot of us became tired and couldn't do our best."

With Sony and Eduardo out of the picture, Kean Lewis and Anas Edathodika are likely to return to the starting line-up. Sanjoy Sen may also choose to play Prabir Das in the right wing and use Katsumi as a central attacking midfielder to increase offensive intensity.

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