East Bengal players (left) gear up at the club ground on Monday for Wednesday’s AFC Cup match against Negeri Sembilan of Malaysia. The visitors (right) also had a feel of the local conditions during their practice session in Salt Lake. Pictures by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: An air of quiet confidence is palpable in the East Bengal camp ahead of Wednesday’s AFC Cup tie against Negeri Sembilan of Malaysia.

If the 3-2 win against Geylang United in their first match in Singapore is one reason, the other factor fuelling this confidence is the way it was achieved.

Add to this the respite the players have had over the last month or so from frequent matches, and it looks like a winning formula.

Not to mention the injury that kept Negeri’s new Nigerian striker Duke Epyong (who had scored a hattrick in the team’s last Cup match against Island FC of the Maldives) away from training. Their coach K. Devan said his condition will be assessed Tuesday.

Coach Subhas Bhowmick is not denying it and looks confident of making the quarter finals.

“That is a distinct possibility at the moment. A win on Wednesday and two more against the Maldivian team will leave us on four wins with two matches to go. Moving up will not be difficult if we win these matches. But to ensure that, we must beat Negeri,” he said after Monday’s evening practice.

Barring Suley Musah and Douglas da Silva, all his players are fit and available for selection. M. Suresh, who missed the Singapore trip with a visa problem, is set to return to action against Negeri.

“The boys are fit and fresh. This break has done us a world of good. Playing matches every second-third day leaves the players jaded, but continuous practice doesn’t. They have recovered from non-stop football and are mentally fresh,” Bhowmick said.

The coach said his team has already crossed the toughest hurdle in group E, against Geylang United. “Still, Malaysians will be no pushovers. Their football infrastructure and system is more advanced than both India and Singapore.

“Their basic standard is better than us. But our performance in recent times makes us positive. We have seen that we can do well if we have the desire and are physically fit,” was the coach’s observation.

Bhaichung Bhutia, who had a brief stint with Malaysian first division club Perak FC last year, refused to undermine Negeri’s strength, just because they play in the second tier of the Malaysian league.

“Over there, the gap between first and second division sides is not as big as in India. The contest is tight and Negeri could well have been in the first division had the number of teams in that tier been not reduced to eight from 12,” said Bhutia.

The India skipper, however, felt East Bengal stand a good chance in the AFC Cup. “The difference between the teams taking part in this competition and us is not much. The gap has been narrowed. Not that their standard has deteriorated, but our standard has gone up.

“In fact, our performance graph has been on a climb since the last pre-World Cup tournament (where India beat UAE in 2001). But we must not forget that we still have to work hard,” Bhutia said.