Mahesh Gawli, Anwar, Gourmangi Singh and Surkumar Singh will man the defence while Subrata Paul will look to continue his good work under the bar.

Houghton also said that the Nehru Cup could lose its importance if the national team doesn't play 10-12 international matches every year.

'We play the Nehru Cup to go up in FIFA rankings. But even if we win the tournament we won't be able to improve our rankings. We also should play around 10-15 international matches every year on the given FIFA dates for international friendlies. But unfortunately our boys don't get much time to play international matches. As long as we don't solve it, guys like Sunil Chettri will never be able to go abroad and play in European leagues,' he said.

The Englishman was disappointed after national captain Bhutia was called on by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to solve his ongoing tussle with his club Mohun Bagan.

'It doesn't make any sense. Tomorrow we are playing a final and I don't find any logic behind the meeting on the eve of the match. It was nonsensical,' he said.