Bryan Robson and Bob Houghton in New Delhi, on Tuesday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi: Hosts India will once again miss their captain Bhaichung Bhutia when they take on Thailand in an international friendly, at the Ambedkar Stadium, on Wednesday. India had lost an away game in Bangkok 0-1, last Saturday.

If India will miss Bhutia, their opponents will be without their main striker Sarayoot Chaikumdee. Incidentally, it is Sarayoot who netted the winner against India in Bangkok, on Saturday. Once again, central midfielder Climax Lawrence will wear the captain’s armband in absence of Bhaichung.

India have done well at the Ambedkar Stadium in the past three years having won the Nehru Cup twice as well as the AFC Challenge Cup. However, this time around they will be facing a much tougher opponents in Thailand.

Coached by former England captain Bryan Robson, Thailand are currently ranked 104 in the Fifa ranking. The Thais looked a more compact and skillful when they squared up against the Indians in their own den.

Robson, however, made it clear that he was mainly concentrating on the junior boys to build up the side for the Asian Games in November.

“We are preparing for the Asian Games, so my plan was to use only five or six player for the senior national team in these two matches,” Robson said.

“I have used 17 players in Bangkok and left 11 behind while coming here. My two young strikers, Pharnit and Thamsatchanan are expected to play here,” the coach added.

Robson, again praised Indian striker Sunil Chetri and goalkeeper Subrata Paul who fared well during the first leg of the friendly.

Like Thailand, India too, will be hoping that the youngsters will deliver on Wednesday. The national coach Bob Houghton is confident that his young strikers — Chetri and Mohammed Rafi — would come good but looked bit perturbed about the performance of the midfielders.

“Our midfielders have performed well during the last couple of seasons. Steven Dias and Climax — two of our key men didn’t have good start to the season due to injuries. They are still not fully match-fit and it is important for me to make sure that by January (when Asian up starts), all the boys are in proper shape,” the British coach said.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is hoping that a near full house would watch the encounter but there are fears that the rain could play spoilsport.

The kick off is at 6.30 pm. The match will be shown live on Zee Sports.