SINGAPORE — An unfamiliar pitch, weather and food are some of the challenges facing Tampines Rovers as they play I-League champions Mohun Bagan in their Asian Champions League (ACL) qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

The Stags will also be missing their star signing Jermaine Pennant, with the former Liverpool winger — who signed a lucrative one-year contract worth an estimated S$45,000 a month with the club last week — forced to sit out of the match after missing the deadline for squad registration.

The club will only be able to register him for the competition if they progress to the group stage, or drop down to the lower-tier AFC Cup.

The odds may be stacked against Tampines, but head coach V Sundramoorthy is refusing to throw in the towel. The 50-year-old will be counting on several other quality players in the squad, which includes nine former LionsXII stars, such as goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud, defender Shakir Hamzah and Izzdin Shafiq (midfield).

“We’ve analysed videos of their (Mohun Bagan) past matches and found them to be fast and very strong in the attack,” said Sundram.

“So we will approach the game appropriately and make sure to be tactically cautious. On paper we have a very good squad and in terms of the quality of the players, we are as good as them. I foresee an even game, and it’s down to us to perform well on the pitch because we have every chance of winning.”

Defeat for Sundram’s men, who will leave Singapore for Kolkata this evening, will see them dropping down to the second-tier AFC Cup, while victory will put them through to the next round, where they face China’s Shandong Luneng FC.

Aside from Pennant, Sundra will have a full squad of fit players to choose from, but with the team playing just two friendly games against Hougang United and Johor Darul Takzim II, he admitted that some of his players still lack match sharpness.

“We’re still in the pre-season stage of our preparations for the upcoming campaign and the boys are still getting used to the flow of things,” said Sundram.

“They’re (Mohun Bagan) already three games into their domestic season, so they’ll be much more settled than we are. But we remain confident and will go out there to attack and fight for a victory.”