Be brave, be more physical and run hard to win. That’s head coach Carles Cuadrat’s message for Emami East Bengal footballers for the coming season.

The senior East Bengal team begins the season with its Durand Cup clash against Indian Air Force on July 29 at the Salt Lake Stadium. In between the Durand matches, Cuadrat’s men will also be locking horns with Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr FC in an Asian Champions League (ACL) 2 preliminary stage contest at Salt Lake on August 14.

The ISL aside, East Bengal are set for a long, hectic season. But, there seems to be a little more depth in the squad with five senior India footballers — midfielder Jeakson Singh, defender Lalchungnunga, and strikers David Lalhlansanga, Nandhakumar Sekar and Naorem Mahesh Singh — and three India U-23 players Vishnu PV (forward), Mark Zothanpuia (fullback) and goalkeeper Prabhsukan Singh.

Last ISL’s Golden Boot winner Dimitrios Diamantakos (Greek centre-forward) and the one with most assists, French attacking midfielder Madih Talak, have also been roped in by East Bengal ahead of the season. The belief in the current squad will be a lot more this time around, feels Cuadrat.

“Now, there’s always hope to do well. There’s a lot of competition around to try and put up a fight. Last year, there seemed to be a bit of a surprise, seeing the team reach two finals (that of the Super Cup and Durand). This season though, such performances won’t come across as a surprise because people believe a lot more in this team now.

“This is one big difference from last year. One of the best squads we have now,” Cuadrat said on Monday.

East Bengal do have the reasons to go into their games with renewed confidence and vigour. But when it comes to the ISL, it’s wise to first target a place among the top six and then take one step at a time, feels Cleiton Silva, one of East Bengal’s captains this season along with Saul Crespo, Naorem and Souvik Chakrabarti.

“Well, the first target is being among the top six. It remains the same as what I had said last year. Then you can think about taking the next step,” the Brazilian forward stated, adding: “I always play keeping in mind expectations will always be high. In fact, this is the kind of feeling you like to have.

“Even though the situation was different last year, we tried to win every game. We’ll do the same this year, and I’m quite positive with the group we have this time.”

The arrival of Dimitrios and David should reduce a bit of pressure on Cleiton as well as his workload. The Brazilian though will be in no mood to relax just because of the arrival of the duo.

“I am not relaxed. I always like to push myself, not because there are other players in the team, but because I try to be a better version of myself every time I’m out on the field.

“Nonetheless, if we can mix up and utilise both the players well, it’s going to be quite good for us then,” Cleiton said. As for the sixth overseas player in the squad, East Bengal are still talking to a few potential recruits.