India look for improvement on England tour

India's friendly tour of England starting this month will help the players prepare for future tournaments, coach Sukhwinder Singh said on Wednesday.

A squad of 22 players leaves on Thursday for four friendly games in two weeks against English league sides.

India play second division Brentford on July 24, first division Nottingham Forest on July 28 and Walsall on August 3, and third division Leyton Orient on July 31.

"The boys are slowly learning how to play against superior opponents. I see a change in their thinking, they are involved for the entire 90 minutes and the consistency is up," Singh told reporters during a team training session in New Delhi.

India, ranked a lowly 113 in the latest FIFA rankings after being considered among the top Asian teams in the 1950's and 1960's, will benefit a lot from the trip, he said.

The team tours England for the second consecutive year.

Last year, India lost 2-0 against Fulham but held first division side West Bromwich Albion to a goalless draw and beat their neighbours Bangladesh 1-0 in a third and final game.

Singh said: "Last year's experience was good. The improvement during such trips will help the team in...the Asian Games, Asia Cup and the Afro-Asian games."

India will take part in the first Afro-Asian games to be held in New Delhi in November and have begun preparations for next year's Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.

India's encouraging performances in the recent Asian World Cup qualifying matches has helped revive interest among the country's mostly cricket-crazy sports fans.

India upset group favourites United Arab Emirates 1-0 before finishing third in their four-team group, level with Yemen and just a point behind the UAE who qualified for the second round.

"The confidence of the boys has gone up. After the (World Cup) qualifying matches, some craze has come for football," said Singh, a former international midfielder.

However, preparations for the trip have been less than ideal with some players not attending a 10-day camp or arriving late because their clubs wanted them to play in local leagues.

Squad:
Goalkeepers: Virender Singh, Sangram Mukherjee, N. Balaji.
Defenders: Surkumar Singh, K.V. Dhanesh, Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Mondal, Roberto Fernandes, M. Suresh, Daljit Singh.
Midfielders: Jules Alberto, Khalid Jameel, Renedy Singh, Hardip Sangha, Deepankar Roy, R.P. Singh.
Forwards: Baichung Bhutia, I.M. Vijayan, Mohammad Najeeb, Hardip Singh Gill, Alvito D'Cunha, Bijen Singh.