One more player - a forward - would be dropped from the team when the final selection of 20-memeber squad is announced on Friday, National Coach Graham Roberts said.[break]
The current probables include eight defenders, five midfielders and forwards each and three goalkeepers.
The new faces in the team were Manang Marshynagid Club (MMC) defender Sabindra Shrestha, New Road Team (NRT) defender Jeetendra Karki and Nepal Army Club winger Tanka Basnet.
The 21-member list was made public after four players in the closed camp were axed. They included injured Bijay Gurung, Tek Bahadur Budathoki, Nawayug Shrestha and Parbat Pandey.
Gurung had picked up knee ligament injury during training about a week ago, and doctors had suggested rest for at least six weeks.
Roberts said Gurung´s absence would be greatly felt in the the team.
When asked why the team was packed with defenders, Roberts said Rohit Chand, Sandip Rai and Rabin Shrestha had picked up injuries during training and that they were not fully fit.
"I should be prepared for their replacement and player like Sandip Rai can be assigned the duty of midfielder as well," Roberts said.
Explaining his reason for including Sabindra Shrestha Roberts said, "He is talented and strong boy with fantastic crossing. He is doing better every other day during training."
Similarly, Roberts said Jeetendra Karki, was a player with winning mentality. He was an excellent center back and had given cent percent during the training.
Roberts was also full of praise for Armyman Tanka Basnet. "The winger can change the game and is quicker than any other player in the team."
Roberts said his aim was to try and secure a place in last four, and the team had been training very hard for the last seven weeks.
"The tournament is tougher than SAFF Championship, Roberts said. "We played well in SAFF and we will do better in the Challenge Cup."
He also defended criticism against the poor form of the forwards in the recent tournaments. "We don´t have better strikers than those we have in the team now," Roberts said.
He ruled out the possibility of Bharat Khawas playing the role of striker. "I talked with him and he wanted to play in midfield."
AFC Chalenge Cup, which takes place between March 8-19 in Kathmandu, features eight Asian national teams.
Nepal is in Group A along with The Maldives, Palestine and Turkmenistan.
Goalkeepers: Kiran Kumar Limbu (Chemjong), Ritesh Thapa, Bikash Malla
Defenders: Sagar Thapa (C), Rohit Chand, Biraj Maharjan, Rabin Shrestha, Sandip Rai, Deepak Bhusal, Sabindra Shrestha, Jeetendra Karki
Midfielders: Raju Tamang, Bhola Silwal, Nirajan Khadka, Bharat Khawas, Tanka Basnet
Forwards: Jumanu Rai, Santosh Sahukhala, Ganesh Lawati, Anil Gurung, Sujal Shrestha
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