National captain Mamunul Islam expressed optimism with regards to Sheikh Jamal's prospects of qualifying for the AFC Cup play-offs as the Bangladesh champions leave here for Bishek, Kyrgyzstan today morning to take part in the Group B qualifiers.
The Dhanmondi giants will begin their qualifying campaign this Thursday against Casa Benfica, back-to-back winners of Macau's top division, before locking horns with five-time Kyrgyz champions FC Alga two days later. Only the group champion will seal a berth in the 2016 AFC Cup play-offs.
Sheikh Jamal, back-to-back champions of the Bangladesh Premier League, are in superb form this season as have already bagged three silverwares from as many tournaments. This season, Sheikh Jamal have only lost once in 29 matches they have played in the league, season-opening Federation Cup and King's Cup in Bhutan.
“Our only target is to qualify for the second round. This is the first time we are going to play in the AFC Cup. We are very hopeful about this tournament not only because we won the league title but also for performing well throughout the season,” Mamunul informed the media yesterday.
“We are going there four-five days before the tournament so that we can get enough time to recover and adjust with the weather and condition,” added the Sheikh Jamal talismanic midfielder on the eve of their departure to Bishek.
One problem however, for Sheikh Jamal is the lack of knowledge regarding their opponents and both head coach Joseph Afusi and Mamunul admitted the fact.
“The club from Kyrgyzstan are a very strong team. Having said that, we don't have enough knowledge about any of the two teams as we didn't find any video footage of them,” said Nigerian Afusi before adding, “I don't know much about them but I think we have the quality and strength to fight against them.”
In Bishek, Sheikh Jamal will miss the services of their in-form Haitian forward Wedson Anselme, who is the second highest scorer in the top-flight this season. But Afusi believes Nigerian forward Emeka Darlington will step up in Wedson's absence.
The three-time premier league champions have received an injury boost ahead of the qualifiers with club skipper and veteran defender Nasir Uddin Chowdhury declared fully fit to join the 21-member squad. Sheikh Jamal are scheduled to depart at 6am.
