East Bengal coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya admitted his team is almost out of contention. JCT have nine points and are out of the race.

Bhaichung Bhutia is back with East Bengal, but was a flop against FC Kochin, missing easy chances. In fact, in Bhutia's absence, Dipendu Biswas had grasped the opportunity and scored a few goals for the side. Although Bhutia is certain to start in the line-up tomorrow, Raman Vijayan might have to make way for Biswas.

JCT, a team featuring local talent from Punjab, has a good understanding among each other. On the even Salt Lake Stadium ground, they are a tough side to handle as Churchill found out in the first match of the final leg here.East Bengal will first have to check the free-flowing JCT players before thinking of scoring.