More debutants gear up for final dress rehearsal

The team management will be hoping for another good performance in the Three Nations Cup when Bangladesh take on hosts Nepal in the final group match at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu today.

As the men in red and green have already advanced to the final of the three-team event, management and coaching staff can certainly relax and try to gauge more new players ahead of June's World Cup Qualifiers. The players had less scope for leisure, completing their final training yesterday at the Army Ground after having swimming and gym sessions at the hotel premises in the morning.

Head coach Jamie Day said time and again that he would focus on judging new players and sealing a spot in the final after Nepal and Kyrgyzstan played out a goalless draw has given Day more leeway to test the players in his 23-man squad.

"We did not focus on winning before we came to Nepal. It was more about match experience. But it is nice to reach the final," Jamie told The Daily Star over phone.

The Brit ensured that there would be a number of changes to the playing eleven against Nepal, who lost 2-0 and played out a goalless draw in two successive friendlies against Bangladesh last November. The coach also expects a positive result.

"We are looking forward to tomorrow's match. There will be a good number of changes from the team that played the first match because, as I said before, we came to see new players. We are looking forward to a positive result to take into the final."

Day's charges shifted from their usual counter-attacking style to building up from the back in the first game and the 43-year-old said he wanted to continue implementing that style against Nepal to check whether players are capable of playing that way in a World Cup Qualifier.

"We wanted to use these two games to see new players and see if we are capable of passing a bit more from the back. So we will continue that then make decisions on how we want to do things for June."

Newcomers Mohammad Emon, centre-back Mehedi Hasan and forward Mohammad Jewel are likely to debut against Nepal while players like Mahabubur Rahman Sufil, Riyadul Hasan, Yeasin Arafat, Mohammad Abdullah, Mehedi Hasan, Manik Mollah, Suman Reza, Shahidul Alam Sohel and Ashraful Islam -- who did not play the first match -- are likely to start.

Day added: "Nepal have a better squad now than when they visited Bangladesh in November."

Captain Jamal Bhuiyan was also ecstatic after confirming a berth in the final and was looking forward to leaving Nepal with a trophy. "We are already in the final but each match is very important for us. Everyone wants to win the match tomorrow although the most important match is the final. We want to win it for Bangladesh, which is celebrating its golden jubilee of independence. So, it is very important for us. Hopefully we can bring the trophy to Bangladesh," said Jamal, who came on as a second-half substitute in the first match.