Kauko, Soosairaj in as ATK Mohun Bagan name strong squad for AFC Cup

Midfielder Joni Kauko will make his debut for the Mariners.

On Friday, ATK Mohun Bagan have announced their squad for the AFC Cup 2021 inter-zonal semifinal clash against FC Nasaf. The squad comprises of 22 players, 10 of whom are from the midfield department. As usual, Roy Krishna will lead the team coached by Antonio Lopez Habas.

Finnish midfielder Joni Kauko, who was in the news for featuring in UEFA Euro 2020 just prior to signing with the Mariners, is expected to make his debut after earning his first call-up. Meanwhile, Hugo Boumous, the club's record signing, is currently nursing an injury and is hence not a part of the squad.

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Another notable addition is Michael Soosairaj, who hasn't played a competitive game for ATK Mohun Bagan since November 20, 2020. On that day, he featured in the starting XI for Habas' side against Kerala Blasters in the ISL 2020-21 opener, before sustaining a season-ending injury. The man from Tamil Nadu joined ATKMB's training camp post his recovery a few weeks ago and is now deemed fully fit.

The complete 22-men ATK Mohun Bagan squad for the AFC Cup match against FC Nasaf is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Avilash Paul, Arsh Anwer.

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Ashutosh Mehta, Prabir Das, Subhasish Bose, Sumit Rathi.

Midfielders: Joni Kauko, Lenny Rodrigues, Liston Colaco, Carl McHugh, Michael Soosairaj, Bidyananda Singh, Engson Singh, Sheikh Sahil, Ravi Bahadur Rana, Abhishek Dhananjay.

Forwards: Roy Krishna, David Williams, Manvir Singh, Kiyan Nassiri.

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A noted absentee is Spanish defender Tiri. The former Jamshedpur FC centre-back has also joined the team from Spain, but couldn't make the cut for their AFC Cup squad. Deepak Tangri is also unavailable, as he is suspended.

ATK Mohun Bagan are currently in a six-day training camp in Dubai. The camp started on September 11. The Mariners' AFC Cup clash against FC Nasaf will happen on September 22. From Dubai, the team will fly to Qarshi, Uzbekistan.

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