SC East Bengal have had a stop-start debut campaign in the Indian Super League. They’ve spent most of the season near the bottom of the tab...

SC East Bengal have had a stop-start debut campaign in the Indian Super League. They’ve spent most of the season near the bottom of the table. Despite that, it’s not all over for them, for a win against fourth-placed Hyderabad FC at the Tilak Maidan on Friday will take them to within four points of their opponents with three games left. The first of four finals for them starts tomorrow.
SCEB have 16 points from 16 games. They would still need favors from other teams to dent the chances of NorthEast United FC, Hyderabad and FC Goa – who are all tied on 23 points with 16 games played — but it is not out of the question.
They face ATK Mohun Bagan, NorthEast and wooden-spooners Odisha FC in their last three games. But for assistant coach Tony Grant, Friday’s test may be the toughest one yet. “I rate them higher than most of the other clubs. They are better than the last two years and they got some good players. It’s going to be a tough game.”
“They are few points ahead of us so they have got more to try and hold on to,” he added.
But to get anything out of the match, SCEB...