New Delhi: Football chief coach Bob Houghton has turned down Mohun Bagan’s request to release their players from the national camp ahead of their exhibition match against Bayern Munich in Calcutta on May 27.

India play the second friendly against the visiting Chinese Taipei team on the same day in Chennai. The first match will be held in Margao on Saturday.

According to team sources, Houghton found the Mohun Bagan request a ridiculous one and was determined not to release any of the campers.

He pointed out that Bayern Munich were coming to India with only 11 professional players and said a season-ending friendly shouldn’t get preference over the national team.

On Saturday, against Chinese Taipei, Houghton is likely to field Deepak Mondal as a left-back with Surkumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli and Gourmangi Singh as the other defenders. Houghton, perhaps, has no option as N.S. Manju is still not fit enough to sustain the pressure of an international game.

Steven Dias, the hero of the Nehru Cup, is another key player who is nursing an injury. With Dias out of action, Houghton may field Bungo Singh on the right of the midfield with the seasoned Rennedy Singh on the left. In the middle, Climax Lawrence will pair up with N.P. Pradeep in a 4-4-2 formation.

The forwardline, however, remains the same with skipper Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri figuring in the starting eleven. Houghton is quite impressed with some of the youngsters in the national camp but is unlikely to experiment at this stage.