Bangladesh have a realistic chance of winning the SAFF Championship for the first time in 23 years, head coach Thomas Dooley said on Wednesday, on the eve of the tournament beginning in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh last won the title in 2003, also on home soil in Dhaka.

They will open their campaign against Bhutan at 8pm on Thursday, after India play Pakistan at 3:30pm on the opening day.

"We are confident that we can play, fight and achieve our goal. I think we have a realistic chance of winning this tournament. It is possible after 23 years," Dooley told a press conference at a Dhaka hotel. "But it will take hard work, playing with confidence and fighting until the last minute."

"We have come to win. Against every team we have to prove that we want to win this tournament," he said.

Dooley said he wanted the team to treat the home crowd's support as extra strength rather than pressure.

Captain Topu Barman said the players accepted the weight of expectations.

"Of course, there is pressure. But I think where there is pressure, good results come from it. We have to understand what our football fans want. They want us to win matches and win the trophy," he said.

Bangladesh will be without midfielder Hamza Choudhury against Bhutan because the FIFA international window does not begin until November 9.

"I will miss Hamza a lot. We really need leadership like him in our team," Topu said. "But we knew in advance that we would not have him for the first match because of the schedule. Our job is to make the path easier for him, which means winning against Bhutan. We want him to join a winning team."

Topu, a centre-back, is now fully fit and available for Thursday. Dooley said he had missed the defender in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Bangladesh did not play any warm-up matches before the tournament. Dooley said they could not find suitable opponents and some players had injury and fitness concerns, including Topu, who was then not fit to play 90 minutes.

He said the players had worked on cutting out basic mistakes in passing and ball control.

Asked why Topu was named captain ahead of Jamal Bhuyan, Dooley said a defender could organise the whole team from the back, and that the side needed several leaders on the pitch.