Mumbai, March 14: Mahindra and Mahindra Sports Club, Mumbai have an edge despite their Jordanian imports - striker Bassam Khatib and defender Sameer Jamil - being unfit for the National Football League clash against Goan outfit Dempo at the Cooperage, here on Wednesday.Mahindras, who are riding on their new found success, have good bench strength plus the home advantage to beat their weak rivals who are languishing at the bottom of the points table.In Khatib's absence, Manjeet Singh is likely to play the striker's role with Abbas Ali Rizvi and Mohammed Najib as the two wingers with Khalid Siddique as the substitute for one of the wingers.The mid-field, comprise Samsi Raza, Satish Minz, Aqeel Ansari and Andrew Louis while Sanjay Dayal could be the first choice substitute.The defence comprises the dependable Ramesh Rajak, Bernard and Christhoper while international Virender Singh will do duty under the bar.Dempo have three Iranians in their ranks - Ahmedi Seied Kamal (striker), Mohd Reza Ibrahim (medio) and Dehzad Amri (defender) while Vikrant Sharma will be their goalkeeper.Stopper back Ajay Acharya, defender Mathew D'Costa and medio Stanly Colosus are some of the players to watch out for.Defender Teotomo Fernandes, Remus Gomes, Eusedio D'Souza, Edwin Fernandes, Preiolkir Kannan and Miguil Rodrigues have also been performing quite well recently.Salgaocar seek revengeTHRISSUR: An absorbing tussle is on the cards when FC Kochin host defending champions Salgaocar, here on Wednesday.With Mohun Bagan, sitting pretty on top after having collected 44 points from 20 matches in the 12-team league, the chase for the the second and third place is hotting up and Salgaocar, who are in the second slot presently, have 36 points to their credit from 19 matches.At the other end, FC Kochin, are in the the sixth slot with 28 points from 18 matches.Salgaocar, who had lost their home match to FC Kochin by a solitary goal, are certain to go all out to garner three points to consolidate their position.FC Kochin's main worry will be their inconsistent defence, the weakest link in the team.``As far as we are concerned this match is very vital and we have to win. Kochin is a strong team'', said an optimistic Shabbir ali, the Salgaocar coach, after the team's practise session.Salgaocar have one of the best striking-combination in Brazilian Joao dos Santos and Nigerian Gbenga Lawal, who can be a thorn in the rival defence if they click. The defence was expected to be in hands of Francis Coelho, Franky Baretto, captain Robert fernandes while the strong midfield would be manned by Bruno Coutinho, S Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh, Habib Adankule.For the hosts, the return of striker Nousahd and central defender Mahesh Gawli after serving one-match suspensions, should boost the confidence. However, their major cause for worry would be the defence, which had let down the team at the crucial juncture.The hosts' luck revolves around IM Vijayan, nursing a knee injury and Liberian Isaac Tondo, but the poor marksmanship of the latter was least promising.
