East Bengal announces 26-member squad for Durand Cup 2023

East Bengal is drawn with arch-rival Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Bangladesh Army FT and Punjab FC, which got promoted to the upcoming ISL season, having won the I-League.

Cleiton Silva, who won the Footballer of the Year at the club for his 14 goals and four assists in all competitions last season, is expected to continue his brilliant form in Durand Cup 2023. | Photo Credit: Focus Sports / ISL

Indian Super League side Emami East Bengal announced a full-strength squad for Durand Cup 2023, ahead of its opener against the Bangladesh Army Football Team on Sunday.

Carles Cuadrat, who won the Indian Super League with Bengaluru FC, has taken charge of the side ahead of the 2023-24 season. Under him, the club will hope to turn its fortunes, with it finishing third from bottom in the previous ISL season.

Cleiton Silva, who won the Footballer of the Year at the club for his 14 goals and four assists in all competitions last season, is expected to continue his brilliant form while the squad included all foreign signings done by the club in this window.

“It has been great (at) training (sessions), I’m really happy with the boys who have been working really hard. Sometimes we have to stop them because of the intensity of the training but it’s a good sign,” Cuadrat told the club website.

“Really happy for the season to start, just waiting for the rest of the players to come. We are going to do a good job.”

RELATED DURAND CUP INFO:

• Durand Cup 2023 Full Schedule: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan on August 12, Final on September 3
• Durand Cup 2023: All you need to know about Indian football’s oldest tournament; Schedule, groups, live streaming info
• Jamshedpur FC announces 22-member squad for Durand Cup
• Durand Cup 2023: Bengaluru FC announces 28-member squad
• East Bengal signs Jordan Elsey, Jose Antonio Pardo Lucas

East Bengal is drawn in Group A of the Durand Cup with arch-rival Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Bangladesh Army FT and Punjab FC, which got promoted to the upcoming ISL season, having won the I-League.

East Bengal squad:

Goalkeepers: Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Kamaljit Singh, Aditya Patra

Defenders: Lalchungnunga, Gursimrat Singh Gill, Nishu Kumar, Tuhin Das, Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Mohamad Rakip, Athul Unnikrishnan, Jordan Elsey (Australia), Jose Antonio Pardo Lucas (Spain)

Midfielders: Souvik Chakrabarti, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Vanlalpeka Guite, Gurnaj Singh Grewal, Saul Crespo (Spain), Mobashir Rahman, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Borja Herrera (Spain), Nandhakumar Sekar, Mandar Rao Desai

Forwards: Cleiton Silva (Brazil), Vp Suhair, Javier Siverio (Spain), Jesin Tk