Bangladesh football team head coach Thomas Dooley said his side can no longer think of themselves as underdogs as they chase a first SAFF Championship title in 23 years, with the tournament back on home soil and set to begin on Thursday.

“You have home advantage from the 25,000 people. So obviously you are the favorite, you’re not the underdog anymore, you’re now the leader and everybody expects you to win,” Dooley told a pre-tournament press conference at Hotel Sheraton in Dhaka on Wednesday.

“That’s what comes from the federation, comes from the fans, comes from you the media, and the other teams see the same way.

“We cannot say we are the underdogs anymore because now we are in that level, we just have to prove it,” he added.

Bangladesh, who last won the title in 2003, open against Bhutan on Thursday without star player Hamza Chowdhury and the up-and-coming player Farhaan Ali Wahid.

Both could not get released from their respective clubs but are expected to be available for the second group phase match against Sri Lanka on November 11.

Topu Barman, who joined Dooley as the team captain, said he will miss the Hamza in the match but hopes to welcome the midfielder with a win already in the bag.

“We will miss him [Hamza]a lot. We badly need leadership like his in our team, and the way he guides us is very special.”

“We want to dedicate the win [against Bhutan] to him. We want to welcome him well, with a win.”

Even though traditionally the captain for the tournament attend the pre-tournament press conference, Dooley refused to name Topu as the sole captain for the SAFF Championship, instead naming him as one of the few players who could carry the captaincy armband in the tournament.

The German-American coach also hoped that a raucous crowd the at National Stadium when the match begins at 8:30 pm will make a positive difference for the host team.

“There’s maybe five or ten percent more in you with the fans and with the eagerness that you want to win that,” he said.

He acknowledged the pressure to win the title, with the head coaches on India and Sri Lanka naming Bangladesh as the favourites, but believes his team’s chances to lift the trophy in the six-team event is ‘realistic’,

“I think this tournament is realistic that this team can win this after 23 years. If we're thinking that we cannot do it, then we will never do it. We have to be enthusiastic and with every player that we have on the pitch, we have to fight and play football.”