Bengaluru FC ‘B’ gear up for 2nd Division League debut

Blues announce 23-man squad led by coach Naushad Moosa ahead of competition opener.

Bengaluru Football Club have named a 23-member squad for the 2018 edition of the 2nd Division League, the club announced on Thursday. BFC ‘B’ who have been placed in Group C will open their campaign against Shillong’s Langsning FC in an away game on March 19.

Apart from Langsning, the Blues will face Manipur’s TRAU FC and Kolkata giants Mohammedan Sporting Club and fellow reserve ISL sides in Jamshedpur FC and Chennaiyin FC in the Group stage.

The reserve side which was launched last October recently competed in the BDFA Super Division League, while having also played the GV Raja Memorial Football Tournament in Kerala.

Speaking ahead of the competition opener, BFC ‘B’ Head Coach Naushad Moosa said, “We are very excited for the 2nd Division League. The team has played a couple of tournaments in the season, and I have had a fair amount of time to assess the players. The 2nd Division League will provide them with good exposure as they will come up against some strong teams from all over the country.”

“Some of our boys are from the Academy, while some have been regularly training with the first team and have even played in the AFC Cup. The ten games in this competition will also provide a platform for the first team staff to assess the players who can make the jump into the ISL squad for next season. That’s our whole idea with the B team, and it’s going to be two hectic months of action,” added Moosa.

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Comprising majorly of U22 players, the players have regularly been training with the first team under Albert Roca and Moosa. Interestingly, BFC ‘B’ will feature three BFC Academy boys in Ajay Chhetri, Biswa Darjee and Ragav Gupta while five other youngsters in Myron Mendes, Asheer Akhtar, Robinson Khumukcham, Prashanth Kalinga and Leon Augustine have also played for the Blues in this season’s AFC Cup. The squad also has four first team players who bring in their AFC Cup and ISL experience.

The Group Stage of the competition will be played on a home-away basis with BFC ‘B’ hosting all their games at the Bangalore Football Stadium.