Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Clifford Miranda feels the pressure will be on East Bengal and not on them ahead of the Kolkata derby in the ongoing Kalinga Super Cup. Both teams have six points in Group A after winning their first two matches and will take on each other at the Kalinga Stadium on Friday.
With a semifinal spot to grab, both the Kolkata giants will aim to come up with a collective show. Mohun Bagan registered a 2-1 win against Hyderabad FC and also won against Sreenidi Deccan by the same margin.
“Not just us, you also know the significance of the match, not just in terms of the derby but more importantly in terms of securing a spot in the semifinal. We just need to play well as a unit, the way we have been playing all this while”, coach Clifford Miranda said in a statement regarding the match against East Bengal.
On the other hand, Mohun Bagan Super Giant captain Brendan Hamil revealed they don’t need extra motivation to play against the arch-rivals.
“These are the games we love to play. It’s the first game you look at when the fixture comes out. So, we don’t need any extra motivation for it”, Brendan Hamil added.
Meanwhile, Mohun Bagan will be without the services of nine players due to injuries and Miranda feels East Bengal will be under pressure to get a win.
When asked about East Bengal having an advantage, Clifford replied “You know very well that we are missing nine players in the team, some due to injuries. Irrespective of that we have full trust on the players who are in the team.”
“East Bengal needs a draw and we need a win, which means they will start as favorites. So the pressure will be on them, not on us. It’s a game for them to lose, not for us”, he added.
This will be Clifford Miranda’s first derby match as a head coach.
