Busan: A confident India will be keen to maintain its winning run when it takes on Turkmenistan in a crucial Group ‘C’ football league match of the Asian Games at Yangsan on Monday.

The Indians had recovered from a sluggish start to thrash Bangladesh 3-0 in their opening match and desperately need another victory again on Monday to keep their hopes alive to make it to the quarter-final stage.

Although the Indians were far from impressive in the first match despite the handsome victory margin, new coach Stephen Constantine was confident that his team will manage to put it across Turkmenistan if they continued to play the way they have done in recent times.

"We played good football for about 25 minutes only in the first match against Bangladesh. We have to be more consistent and play well for all the 90 minutes," Constantine said.

The Indians have to guard against complacency as Turkmenistan, who was drubbed 4-0 by strong contenders China in its first match, has the ability to spring a surprise against any fancied team on its day and has a number of talented players in its ranks.

"We are not taking them lightly. You have to play well in all the matches, so there is no question of taking anybody lightly," the coach said.

The Indians will be handicapped to a great extent due the absence of defender Deepak Mondal who has to sit out of the match because of a controversial red card booking in the opener.

Mondal, who has been one of the most promising players and has become a key figure in the transformation of the team, was given marching order by Omanian referee Al Harassi Rashid in the dying minutes of the match against Bangladesh for a 'rough' tackle although the Indians have called the decision too harsh.

In fact, coach Constantine was so annoyed with the dismissal that he was seen arguing with the referee after the match.

But the Indians will have to come to terms with Mondal's absence and keep their focus intact as they seek to put in their best show in Asian Games in four decades. The last time India had won a gold medal in the football event was way back in 1962 in Jakarta. It had also won a gold medal in the first edition of the Games in New Delhi in 1951.

PTI