ATK, Pune City face off without several key players

KOLKATA:FC Pune City play ATK here on Saturday still looking for their first win of the season after six games and if you think that is bad, you haven’t heard anything yet. The last time they won an ISL match was 11 games ago, away to Mumbai City FC on February 11 in Season 4.

Going into their fourth away game of ISL 5, they have one point on the road which, along with Delhi Dynamos, is the worst of the season so far. Among teams that have played all four seasons, FC Pune City have second lowest number of wins: 21, the same as Delhi Dynamos and one more than Northeast United going into Friday’s game.

With Pradhyum Reddy in charge, they are also the only team without a head coach in the interim having fired Miguel Angel Portugal after three games.

“There were a lot of issues that needed to be rectified during the pre-season which were not,” said Reddy who has spoken about the team’s lack of fitness.

They will miss three key foreigners . Forwards Diego Carlos and Marcelinho are suspended and former Austria international Marko Stankovic, who plays in central midfield, is injured.

UCHE OUT FOR THE YEAR

ATK will miss Nigerian targetman Kalu Uche for the rest of the year due to injury. “Kalu has a grade three quadriceps muscle injury. He should be back after the Christmas break and we have been allowed by the league to look for a short-term replacement,” said ATK coach Steve Coppell.