New Delhi: On Friday, Mohammedan Sporting will take the field against JCT Mills, Phagwara in the National Football League (NFL) here without a foreign player as all their attempts to hurriedly recruit a foreign striker has proved to be a futile one.

Mohammedan Sporting coach Subhas Bhowmick said on Wednesday that he hoped to recruit Nigerian striker Omolaja Olalekan, who played a key role in East Bengal’s first triumph in the NFL in 2000-01 season. “We thought of recruiting him immediately and field against JCT, but the federation might take around a week before clearing his papers,” said Bhowmick.

The other Mohammedan Sporting foreign striker, Eric Mputu, who did a good job in the recently concluded Federation Cup in Calcutta, has not been registered as his Indian visa has expired. “We will only register him for the NFL once he renews his visa after getting the necessary clearance from the Government of India,” Bhowmick said.

Bhowmick is now hoping that Nigerian striker Mike Okorowill return from Poland to honour his contract.