The Indian defence developed a visible chink, with the Mahindra United trio of N S Manju, Mahesh Gawli and K Ajayan ruled out -- along with four other ''key'' players -- ahead of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier Group A tie against Yemen in Delhi on Wednesday.
Having already lost 0-6 to defending champions Japan, India have to win convincingly against Yemen to keep their hopes alive.
Addressing newspersons in Delhi on the eve of the match, team manager P K Banerjee said, "Seven key players of the SAFF Cup-winning squad have been ruled out of the match due to injuries and their replacements have been called for. And although number one is always better than number two, we will still try and capitalise on the home advantage and crowd support to win tomorrow's match."
Apart from the Mahindra United trio, vice-captain S Venkatesh, M Suresh, Rajat Ghosh Dastidar and Surajit Bose are other big casualties.
However, national coach Syed Nayeemuddin appeared unperturbed by the injury scare and hinted that unlike in Japan, where the team played to save the game, the Indians would be outright offensive against Yemen.
"Although they are strong opposition, we are planning to go all out for a victory tomorrow," he said.
Meanwhile, Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction with the ground conditions at the Ambedkar stadium. The former India captain also said the team is having some problems in adjusting to the new Nike ball.
Both Banerjee and Nayeem said this is an opportunity for the youngsters to prove their worth, which would help prepare team for future.
Meanwhile, sensing some jitters in the Indian camp, Yemen are looking put behind their 0-4 disappointment against Saudi Arabia and at least take a point if not score an outright win over their higher-ranked hosts.
"We have a great desire to win and we are fielding a full strength 20-player team for tomorrow's tie," coach Ahmed al Raee said.
Yemen had held India in their last two encounters. In 2004, they shocked formidable UAE 3-1 in the World Cup qualifiers.
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