Captain Gautam Gambhir defended the position of Eoin Morgan in the Kolkata Knight Riders team ahead of Saturday's Indian Premier League clash against the Kings XI Punjab.

The English recruit has racked up paltry scores of six, 10, six and nought in his debut IPL season thus far, with fans and pundits alike calling for his berth in the starting XI to be given to another member of the squad.

Morgan's wretched form leaves him as somewhat of a passenger in a Kolkata batting line-up strewn with stars, including Indian left-hander Gambhir, Proteas star Jacques Kallis, Dutch graduate Ryan ten Doeschate, Shreevats Goswami and Manoj Tiwary.

With fellow internationals Shakib Al Hasan and Brad Haddin waiting in the wings, Morgan's first-ball duck in the win over Delhi earlier in the week came as a veritable last straw for the 24-year-old, and there is due cause for either Bangladesh's Shakib or Australia's Haddin to play against Punjab ahead of Morgan.

However, Gambhir is adamant the talented middle-order batsman will come good, starting with the weekend's encounter at Eden Gardens.

"Eoin is a fantastic player," said Gambhir.

"It's just that he hasn't faced enough balls. We need to give him more time in the middle so that he can get himself in. Once that happens, he's the kind of player that can win us games single-handedly."

The England right-hander isn't the only Knight Riders batsman to endure a torrid run of form of late. The big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, despite a blitzrieg 46 against Bangalore earlier in the tournament, has otherwise stuttered through knocks of 11, 22, eight and five.

"I am not really concerned about a lack fo big runs from Yusuf. He got 46 runs off 24 balls against the Royal Challengers, so he is hardly out of form. He is hitting the ball as well as anyone," added Gambhir.

The Kolkata skipper hoped for more of the triumphant same from Manoj Tiwary come Saturday's showdown against Adam Gilchrist's men. The 25-year-old right-hander lambasted a brisk 61 not out in Friday's victory over the Daredevils with some entirely clean hitting.

"Manoj is in some fine form at the moment. He gets us into good position and here's hoping that continues from here on in," concluded Gambhir.