East Bengal coach Carlos Roberto Pereira imparts a few tips to his players at the club ground on Friday, the eve of their match against Mohammedan Sporting. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: East Bengal look to seal the Sahara CFL Premier Division championship on Saturday with a win over Mohammedan Sporting in Barasat.

The red-and-gold camp is obviously enjoying the advantage of going into the big match with the knowledge that any setback in Barasat can be neutralised in their final match against Eastern Railway on Tuesday.

After 12 matches, East Bengal are leading the table with 28 points. Defending champions Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting are on 27 and 23 points, respectively, after 13 outings.

Forty nine days ago, East Bengal thrashed the same opponents 4-2 in the first leg. But things have changed a lot since. Mohammedan Sporting, whose title-aspirations received a serious blow with that defeat, are now struggling to pick up the pieces. While Douglas da Silva has been sacked midway through the league, Mike Okoro has left for Poland. Besides, some key players are also fighting injuries.

Subhas Bhowmick admitted on Friday that absence of his two foreigners is “certainly a problem,” but he’s not in any mood to compromise with the circumstances. “We will fight with whatever resources available and try to delay East Bengal’s celebration,” he said.

But Carlos Roberto Pereira is trying to avoid this situation. “We want to get this championship off our minds,” the Brazilian said.

But will their celebration be a bit low key in that they have lost to arch-rivals Mohun Bagan on both occasions? “It’s not important how many times we have lost to Mohun Bagan. A few years from now, people will only remember the team who won the championship,” Pereira shot back.

Pereira will also miss a number of key players. Alvito D’Cunha and Ashim Biswas — who scored a 35-second goal against Mohammedan Sporting in the first-leg — are out with card problems. Pereira, however, insisted that he had his back-ups ready for Saturday’s challenge.