These three shaped Mohamme-dan's Club Cup triumph against all odds with outstanding performance but found themselves in troubled waters since the start of the Premiership.

"I was paid one third of my contract money in cash and recently, the club gave me a cheque for the rest. But it bounced back. I will not play tomorrow if I do not get the money before the game," told Yamin.

"I am a professional and I can't get along if am not paid in time," the tall defender added.

Habul, who set an equaliser and slammed the match winner in their 2-1 win over favourites and archrivals Abahani in the final of Club Cup tournament in the start of the season, said it was difficult to continue playing with tension in mind.

"The league is being held after two seasons and this is our only income source. So we cannot concentrate on our work if we are not paid," said Habul adding that many of the black and whites squad have already being paid in full.

The cash-starved Mohammedan who have already changed the chairman of their hockey committee immediately after the Club Cup, are fourth in the table after one draw and one loss in five outings. They must win today to stay in contention for the title as they have fallen eight points behind joint leaders Abahani and Usha, who are level on 18 points with straight six wins.

Mohammedan officials were confident that talks with the players could solve the crisis.

"We have played only five matches and how could they demand full payment?" asked Mohammedan official and former player Tariquzzaman Nannu.

"They have practised with us today and we have set a strategy. If they do not play tomorrow it would be unfortunate and we will be bound to take disciplinary action (against them). But I think things would not go that far and we would be able to solve the problem before the important match," said Nannu.

In spite of fund crisis, Mohamme-dan have three Pakistani stick wielders in their roster. Khalid Salim and Mohammed Irfan have already played this season but Asim Khan will make his first appearance today when the match kicks off at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium at 2.45pm.

In-form Abahani on the other hand, will be seeking revenge after giving up a lead and lose the Club Cup final to Mohammedan. The sky-blues, however, will not include a third foreigner and will rely on old guards Ronald Kiran and Prakash Chalke and a confident local collection.