The nail-biter Kolkata Derby is just hours away but both camps, East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC, are not ready to coin it as the ‘last frontier’. Sanjoy Sen and Mohun Bagan skipper Katsumi Yusa attended the presser for the Mariners whereas Trevor Morgan, Robert Lalthlamuana and veteran warhorse Mehtab Hossain addressed the media at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri before this I-League season’s first Kolkata Derby tomorrow (February 12, 2017).

Both the camps looked much relaxed ahead of the much-anticipated Kolkata Derby and both gaffers stated in unison, “Still 30 points are up for grabs in the league after this match.”

Sanjoy Sen said, “I personally look towards the game akin to any other game. Day in and day out, we plan, practice and try to execute it on the field. There’s no other lookout for tomorrow’s game as such.”

His counterpart Trevor Morgan also vented his emotions in the same way, “It’s another game in the league and three points up for grabs.  We’ll push our limits to win it, as we do for any other game, nothing else.”

Meanwhile, Sanjoy Sen couldn’t attend the derby in the last season in this very stadium as he was serving the 4-match suspension. He revealed, “Yes, I can’t deny that I had an agony last season. But, that’s history now. It’s a new season and tomorrow it’s a fresh 90 minutes. Last season is in the history book and we don’t want to look back into it.”

On being asked which team is the strongest in the league, jovial Katsumi quipped, “Mohun Bagan and Mohun Bagan, no one else as I foresee as the strongest one.”

Trevor Morgan also commented that the hype and the pressure are always being put in by the spectators and the media, “It’s you guys who create the buzz around a single game but not the players. We prepare for every single game with utter seriousness and approach each game with same intensity. We won’t deviate from our lookout tomorrow and we will try to execute our plans on the pitch.”

AN eloquent Mehtab Hossain, who have plied a trade in a bucketful of derbies before, mentioned, “Since my wee days, there has been a significant change in the Indian Football ecosystem. Enough money has been pumped in. Sponsors are getting lured and youngsters are grabbing eyeballs. Nonetheless, it’s been a long journey for all of us and obviously, there’s a steady positive transformation.”

The match is scheduled at 16.30 IST tomorrow and it’ll be telecast live on Ten 2.

(Photo courtesy: I-League Media)