Bolstered by the return of their marquee player Helder Postiga, reigning champions Atletico de Kolkata will be keen to return to winning ways at home when they face bottom-placed Chennaiyin FC in an Indian Super League football fixture here tomorrow.
Having struck a brace in their stunning 3-2 win against the same opponents in the ISL opener, the Portuguese World Cupper had returned Spain to treat his hamstring injury. In his absence, ATK struggled to get their combination right.
Ahead of their four-match home leg to conclude the league stage, Postiga's joining the squad gives a massive boost to the side, which is on a two-match losing streak at home.
Postiga, who joined the squad in Delhi after a one and half month's injury layoff, may however start on the bench as coach Antonio Habas has another striking option in their latest recruit Dejan Lekic of Serbia.
The former CA Osasuna and SD Eibar forward has joined the side in place of Josemi and the tall forward may start tomorrow.
"Playing in India will be a big experience and I'm looking forward to play a part and adapt to the conditions here. I know a couple of players here so it will help," Lekic, a former teammate of Borja Fernandez and Javier Lara at Eibar, said.
The injured Lara, meanwhile, has been ruled of the tournament and ATK have signed Jorge Alonso Martin.
ATK have suffered defeats against Delhi Dynamos and NorthEast United FC in their last two home matches. But still they have managed to keep themselves afloat by occupying the fourth place in the table with a win in Kerala and a draw.
Another area of concern for Habas would be to plug their defence, which has conceded in all of their 10 matches and there will be a fresh challenge for the backline to hold the likes of Elano Blumer and Stiven Mendoza.
Much like ATK, Chennai too have lost back to back matches at home -- against FC Goa and NorthEast United FC -- as time is fast running out for the last year's semifinalists.
Tied with Sunil Chhetri for the Golden Boot armband, the Colombian forward Mendoza will be itching to get his nose ahead of India's top scorer of all time.
Freekick 'master' Blumer has done a substantial amount of justice to his playmaker role and leads the assists chart with four, and the seasoned Brazilian also has four goals to his tally.
The midfielder's knack of reading the game will be an imminent threat to the opponents.
To their advantage, CFC, who have 10 points, have played one match less compared to ATK, who have 14 from 10 matches and it will be a make or break for both the teams.
