BANGALORE: Federation Cup champion Mohun Bagan will take the field on Saturday against local side Hindustan Aeronautics Sports Club (HASC) with its tails up, but with a sense of circumspection too, in the XIth National Football League encounter here at the Football Stadium.

The opening-round matches for both the teams, set for a 3.45 p.m. kick-off, will be a stocktaking encounter rather than a robust one in more ways than one. HASC, the local league champion, gained entry into this edition of the NFL thanks to the inability of the Tata Football Academy (TFA) to field a team in the Elite Division.

TFA, the Second Division champion, at this same venue, expressed its inability and the third-placed HASC got a `nod' in. HASC last played in the Premier league in the 2002-03 season. — Principal Correspondent

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