Dhaka, September 2: Bangladesh faces Asian champions Australia in the FIfa World Cup Qualifier at Perth at 5:00 pm BST on Thursday.

Bangladesh's Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif knows his side has a massive task in front of them but declared they won’t shirk the challenge.

“We know [Australia] is number one in Asia, a good team, a lot of good players that are playing in Europe so we are absolutely the underdog,” he said.

“Of course we have our tactics. We will start the match very motivated and very eager to get a good result. It’s a wonderful experience for my team and anything can happen in football. My players are not afraid, they have respect but they are not coming as a tourist here.”

Australian coach Ange Postecoglou wants the Socceroos to take their game to another level .While three points against the world’s 170th-ranked nation is paramount at nib Stadium, the Socceroos boss also wants to see progression from his emerging side. Not only winning football, but free-flowing, vibrant, attacking football is his mantra.

“There’s always a little bit of excitement amongst the players. It’s their first home game since the Asian Cup and we haven’t been to Perth for a long time,” Postecoglou told.

“We had a great turnout at the fan day yesterday and I’m sure there will be a buzz in the stadium. perfect night for us would be to play well and also entertain the crowd but the most important thing is we keep progressing our football."

“We want to put on a show. It’s three important points and the more points you get earlier in this campaign, the less likely of a banana-skin down the track.”