East Bengal defender Elsey sidelined with knee injury

KOLKATA: With the hurt of losing the Durand Cup final to Mohun Bagan SG still fresh in mind, East Bengal FC on Monday woke up to another bad news that key defender Jordan Elsey would be sidelined for several months.
The Australian centre-back suffered a knee injury during the first half of Sunday’s Durand Cup final at the Salt Lake Stadium and was replaced by Spaniard Jose Pardo.

“The club confirms that Jordan Elsey has unfortunately suffered a knee injury in yesterday’s Durand Cup final that will keep him out of action for the next few months. We will continue to support Jordan through this difficult phase and wish him a speedy recovery,” Emami East Bengal said in a statement on Monday.

Incidentally, Elsey had ruptured ACL on his knee twice during his time in the A-League.
Meanwhile, East Bengal club officials are planning to seek chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s intervention after a section of their supporters were subjected to physical attacks and abuses after the Durand Cup match.
Condemning the attack on the red-and-gold supporters, senior club official Debabrata Sarkar said: “When our supporters were returning home, they were attacked with sticks and rods near Kadapara area on EM Bypass.

Even in the part, we brought to the notice of the police and administration about the miscreants’ lawlessness in this area but such things are yet to be stopped. We’ve approached the Bidhannagar Police with video footage of the latest incidents. We are also thinking about informing the chief minister and sports minister (Aroop Biswas) and will seek their intervention to put an end to this.”