There have been whispers and allegations that

Lodewijk de Kruif always gives priority to those players he had picked three years ago at the start of his Bangladesh tenure, but the 46-year-old coach has denied the allegations while admitting that those players are not as good as they were before.

"I can't battle with the whisper but everyone knows the door is always open and we can discuss the matter. As a coach what I can do is to pick the best talented players of the country. I think at this moment and in every area that I am coaching, I want to bring the tactical and technical plans on the pitch and I pick the best players at the moment. I admit we travel with 20 to 23 players but the bunch of players should be 25 to 40 players.

"The podium of young players like U-19, U-21 and U-23 is not there. We need them to play domestic league regularly and it is our concern to give them a good podium," de Kruif said, defending his decision of giving priority to players who were chosen by him three years ago.

In the last three years, hardly any new faces have been thrust into the national fold even though a lot of players perform regularly at the domestic scene. The Dutchman came on heavily on the players raising questions about their professionalism and the quality after the recent 5-0 defeat against Tajikistan.

"I am absolutely convinced with the fact that the players can do what ability they have. From the first day of training, the players are looking very hard-working, dedicated and I'm giving everything in training to bring them to a certain level. That is my task, that is my duty and what

I'm doing is like other coaches to prepare them for the battle.

"What is difficult for me to understand is that, 18 months [10 months ago] ago we made a draw [against Tajikistan]. At the moment I know the quality of the players. Now the players are not as good as they were 18 months ago," said the Dutchman, who believes the team needs magic to turn the table against Tajikistan in the home match on Tuesday.

"At the moment the most important thing is to play good football and show people at the stadium and in front of televisions that we have good players. We are able to play a good game with good pace. The first task is to stick to the plan and tactics. The players have to do what we are asking in 90-plus minutes," de Kruif said after holding a half-an-hour's discussion with the president of Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday.