East Bengal's title hopes have withered after their loss against ONGC in the last match as the club has struggled with two wins and three losses in the last five matches.
"A prospective champion leads the way which we are not being able to do in the last few rounds," an upset East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan said today.
"My strikers are suffering from inconsistency and that is primarily why the team is not performing up to the expectations in the last few rounds," Morgan said without naming anyone individually.
On the frontline, Morgan has tried Robin Singh alongside Nigerian Edeh Chidi, his main forward in the last few rounds as the likes of Manadeep Singh and Baljit Sahni have had their performance graph going down.
With the trio of Sanju Pradhan, Harmanjot Khabra and Raju Gaekwad ruled out because of injuries, it's more problems for the Englishman coach.
"I wish the team gets back the winning rhythm in the right time," Morgan said, hoping to avenge their 1-2 loss against Mumbai FC.
The Mumbai FC have a better record than East Bengal in the last five rounds as they have two wins and as many draws apart from a loss as under Khalid Jamil they have tried to overcome a shaky start.
Ghanian forward Yusif Yakubu will be their trump card as they would look to continue their fine run.
"The team morale is high we hope to continue the momentum and return with some points," Yakubu said.
East Bengal (27 points) are at third place, while Mumbai is placed fifth in the table with 20.
