Kolkata: SC East Bengal’s new head coach Manuel ‘Manolo’ Diaz claimed to be prepared for the famous Kolkata derby against ATK Mohun Bagan to be held on November 27 to be held at Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa.
“I know all the talk is around the derby which is the second game for us. Although we will have only a short time to prepare, I respect the emotions of the fans and all I can say is, we will be ready,” Diaz said after the league rolled out the fixtures for the first 11 rounds on Monday.
The Kolkata derby had always been one of the most anticipated event every year and the emotion added to the occassion had not changed even with the former I-League sides joining Indian Super League (ISL).
ATK Mohun Bagan had an interesting debut season becoming the runners up while SC East Bengal who made into the league narrowly had a rather underwhelming season. They stood almost at the bottom of the table at nine th position clinching only 3 wins. They had lost both the derbies against Antonio Lopez Habas’ side 2-0 and 3-1.
SC East Bengal had recently replaced former Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler with Diaz as the head coach. Diaz has brought in two foreign signings Amir Dervisevic and Tomislav Mrcela ahead of the preparations for the eighth edition of the tournament . They kickstart their campaign against Owen Coyle’s Jamshedpur FC on November 21.
“The fixture list is quite tight, and games will come at us thick and fast. We will prepare well ahead of our first encounter against Jamshedpur FC.” stated the 51-year old Spaniard.
