Bangladesh team were dealt a heavy blow the day before their crucial Asian Cup Playoff Qualifiers tie against Bhutan as midfielder Emon Mahmud was about to return home following the death of his mother. The absence of the Abahani midfielder will alter the game plan, head coach Tom Saintfiet claimed at the prematch press conference in Thimphu yesterday.

"Emon is my key player. He was in form. After our first match against Bhutan, I was looking for solutions, and Emon was from day one in my plan," rued the Belgian. “As a group, things were going well and the atmosphere was good. The team had a shape, but now we have to do some changes."

In Emon’s absence, Enamul Haque Sharif is expected to play the defensive midfielder's role, which he did during the first leg. There isn't expected to be any tinkering with the defence and goalkeeping positions, but there may be a number of changes in midfield and attacking positions. Apart from Sharif, Mamunul Islam, Jafar Iqbal and Rubel Mia are expected to feature as the other midfielders, with Hemanta Vincent Biswash getting his place just behind striker Shakhawat Hossain Ronny in a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, coach tried to keep cards close to his chest by saying, 'Mamunul will be the captain if he starts, or else goalkeeper Ashraftil [Islam Rana) will wear the captain's armband'.

Another thing that should worry the coach is the cold and cloudy weather. The night temperature falls well below 15 degrees centigrade, and with rain forecast for the evening as the match kicks off at 6:00pm, Bangladesh players could be up for a big challenge. However, the coach believes neither the weather nor the artificial turf will have a say, he is rather apprehensive about his team's adaptability with Thimphu's high altitude.

"The turf and the weather will not have any influence on the result, the only influence could be altitude and that can have a big influence," the 43-year-old coach said.

Saintfiet thinks that despite Bangladesh being held to a goalless draw in the first leg, his side still has the advantage in that it is the opposition who will be more desperate for a win because anything other than a defeat for Bangladesh or a scoreless draw, which will take the tie to extra time and penalty shoot-out, Bangladesh will go through.

Saintfiet’s opposite number, Torsten Spittier, however implied that it will be hard for Bangladesh

to beat his side, and things will get only tougher for the visiting team as the game progresses. Bhutan have recently beaten Sri Lanka twice, and scored five goals against Maldives in two matches. Most of the away teams find it hard to keep their tempo for full ninety minutes here due to the high altitude and resulting shortage of breath.

"As longer the match will go, the more the advantage of the altitude will be on our side," Spittier, who has only recently been appointed Bhutan team's coach, opined. "With the first leg score 0-0, it's a start from the beginning. We know we have to win either by normal result or by penalty shoot-out And that’s what we want to do. We are not here to sit back and relax. We want to give them a fight until the last minute and if the last minute is penalty, then we will do it until the last penalty."