By IANS
Ludhiana : Mohun Bagan’s injury woes seem to be never ending. The Kolkata club will be without the services of deep defender N.S. Manju in the prestigious Federation Cup football tournament starting here Tuesday.
The maroon and green outfit play their first game, against Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Thursday and Manju’s injury is a big blow for the club after they lost Deepak Mondal, who injured his knee while on national duty in the Nehru Cup tournament last month.
Mondal’s knee injury, suffered during India’s 1-0 win over Bangaldesh, has ruled him out for the entire season. The defender is likely to be operated in Kolkata Sep 20 by Mumbai-based orthopaedic surgeon Anant Joshi, who had treated cricket megastar Sachin Tendulkar’s injured foot.
Manju was injured during the club’s last training session in Kolkata Monday, the day before the side left for the Federation Cup. Chinmoy Sarkar has been called in as a replacement, confirmed Mohun Bagan manager Kashinath Das.
Manju’s injury is also bad news for the national team, who are scheduled to fly to Dubai for a training camp later this month in preparation for the first round of the 2010 World Cup Asian zone qualifiers.
India travel to Lebanon Oct 8 for their first match.