New Delhi, Sep 17 - A day after suffering a humiliating defeat by newcomers Lajong in the Durand Cup football, an influential East Bengal club official found fault with coach Subhash Bhowmick's team selection and his strategy in their surender to the newly-promoted I-League team.

Bhowmick agreed with the official as far as the team selection is concerned, but attributed the loss to the entire team.

A top East Bengal official before leaving for Kolkata Thursday morning blamed Bhowmick for his 'poor' selection of foreign players, citing it the reason behind the team's third consecutive loss in the season here Wednesday.

'Our choice of foreign players was wrong. Those who selected them should take the responsibility,' the official said on condition of anonymity.

Bhowmick, however, does not want to get into this blame game.

'All I can say is that the entire team failed against Lajong Wednesday. The team did well in the first half but was a complete flop after conceding the goal in the second session,' Bhowmick said.

Having suffered the ignominy at the hands of TFA colts and Chirag United in the IFA Shield, Bhowmick hoped for a revival in the Durand Cup, but that was not to be and the team's disastrous performance continued.

The loss against Lajong knocked East Bengal out of the Durand Cup, a tournament that East Bengal has won 16 times.