Bangladesh have lost both their matches in the qualifiers, to 5-0 to Uzbekistan away and 1-0 to Hong Kong at home, and there is little hope for the August 16 date at the MA Aziz Stadium with Qatar, one of the top teams in the continent who are leading the group with maximum six points.

There are more worries than the opponents as the hosts will be without key defenders Sujan, Hassan Al Mamun and Rajani. Sujan has been ruled out for at least two months due to injury while Hassan has yet to touch the ball since recovery from a damaged hamstring.

Rajani is in Kolkata with his family and could not be contacted by the team management and the Bangladesh Football Federation is considering taking action against the former national captain for ignoring the call.

"It is a big worry that we will miss the top three in the defence. We have now 17 players out of the 20-member squad and hardly practised with the ball together," coach Hasanuzzaman Babloo told The Daily Star after yesterday's training session at the brothers Union ground.

Babloo has been given charge of the side in absence of Argentine coach Diego Cruciani, who is on duty with the under-23s for the SA Games in Colombo.

"We had fitness training for the first ten days and just started playing from August 5. So, I really don't know about many of the players' match fitness. Senior players like Arman and Alfaz, who joined after the National Championship qualifiers, have been with us for just four days. It is a problem for aged players to recover proper fitness when they are not in touch," commented Babloo.

"The only advantage is that most of the players were groomed under me at junior levels and I can get the best out of them.

"When you play against a strong team like Qatar, there is only one option: not to concede many goals. I will not demand the footballers to get me a result but ask them to play at their highest level.

"We have to play defensive and I have to go for five backs. With Parvez Babu at right, I can field (Mahmudul) Hassan at right. Pradip, who is in good form, will be at the central defence with Nazrul and Faisal. The problem is that both Nazrul and Faisal are slow and have past their best long ago but I have no other choice the young players are on way to Sri Lanka."

He also hinted at playing a lone striker and he will have to choose between Alfaz and Moni.

"I will play a warm-up game against a Narayanganj side tomorrow and see what shape Alfaz and Moni are in. Moni has been away from the game for long but has been scored a number of goals in the National Championship. I also have Farhad and Kanchan as backup.

Babloo's four-man midfield will feature Joy, Arman, Matiur Munna and Abul with Asad pressing hard for a place.

"I hope they would be sincere and compete against Qatar," added Babloo.

Qatar will arrive on August 15.