Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Rudderless ATK aim to end on high against NorthEast

- IANS sportsdesk@hindustant­imes.com

A day after Ashley Westwood stepped down as interim coach of ATK, the reigning champions, who are hopelessly out of form, will look to end their campaign on a high when they take on fellow strugglers NorthEast United in an ISL tie on Sunday.

According to team officials, assistant-coach Bastab Roy and Irish star Robbie Keane will be in charge for their last fixture at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan.

Roy and Keane could continue in the ensuing Super Cup qualifiers as well. However, for those games, former Bagan coach Sanjoy Sen too could give inputs even if he is not in the technical area.

Westwood, 41, was the technical director of the two-time champions before he had to take up the coach’s job as Teddy Sheringham was removed owing to a string of underwhelm­ing performanc­es.

But fortunes did not turn for the Sourav Ganguly co-owned side as they lost six games under him and drew only once.

Westwood, who won two I-League titles and a Federation Cup in three seasons with Bengaluru FC, was in the technical area for the last time when ATK were pummelled 1-5 by FC Goa on Thursday. The heavy defeat was the final nail in the coffin. ATK are placed ninth in the 10-team event and have won three games this season, losing 10 times.

The champions in the inaugural edition and 2016 have only looked downhill this season with a raft of injuries to key players adding to their woes.

KOLKATA:

 ?? ISL ?? ATK players warm up on the eve of the match against NEUFC.
ISL ATK players warm up on the eve of the match against NEUFC.

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