Coach NT Bhutia, in a chat with The Indian Express, projected a realistic picture of his team's chances. ``We really don't aim for the stars. Our initial aim is to qualify from the cluster and the rest we will take as it comes, step by step,'' reasoned Bhutia.

The 40-year-old NIS coach who played for his State for over a decade, felt it would be an easy outing against Pondicherry. However, he rated his chances against Assam as 50:50. ``The present Assam crop is very talented. They finished runners-up in the National Games. The fact that we have beaten them on a couple of occasions in the North-East Games bolsters our confidence,''

The boys from the hilly-chilly terrain are expected to have a tough fight on the climatic front here. ``We fear the hot and humid conditions more than ourrivals. It contributed to our poor performance when we last visited the place in 1992,'' said Bhutia, who has coached India's star football striker Bhaichung Bhutia. ``It would have been better had we played in Ooty as the conditions there would suit our style of play,'' he added.

He pointed out that in the mid-'80s, when he was a coach-cum-player, the team used to comfortably make it to the last eight stage, and he hoped that they would be able to repeat the performance.

In the earlier championship outings, when at their best, they have even troubled teams like Bengal, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. In the last Governor's Gold Cup at Gangtok, the team had made a match out of it against the formidable Airlines.

Star striker Bhaichung Bhutia is not the only player that Sikkim boasts of. They have had players like Jerry Basi and Prem Dorjee who have donned Indian colours. Even the current junior side, which reached the recent junior National final, had talented players like Mayal Lepcha, KCDadul and Suren Chatri.

The coach opined that in the next few years, things will change for the better in the state. ``Already, a talent search for more Bhaichungs is on by the Sikkim Department of Sports and Youth Affairs (in which he is the chief coach). Also, an exclusive football stadium is likely to be set up.''