India can take Bangladesh lightly at its peril: Houghton

New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI) India coach Bob Houghton today said his boys would not take Bangladesh lightly and would go for a win when they lock horns with the South Asian neighbours in the ONGC Nehru Cup round robin fixture here tomorrow.

India began their campaign on a flying note, routing Cambodia 6-0 in the inaugural match, while Bangladesh were outplayed by tournament favourites Syria 0-2 yesterday.

However, Houghton did not underestimate any team in the five-nation competition.

''We can not take any team lightly. We have to play our best and win the match,'' he told journalists at the sidelines of team's practice session here.

''We want to win the tournament, so every match is equally important for us.

''Though Bangladesh were beaten by Syria, their match against us will be a different ball game altogether,'' he added.

Captain Baichung Bhutia also echoed the views of his coach, saying, ''At this level no team can be taken lightly.'' ''We have a task at hand tomorrow, which is the same as that before the Cambodia match. Every match is important,'' he said.

Against Bangladesh Houghton is sticking to the same bunch of players that played against Cambodia, just NP Pradeep, who suffered an injured during that match is the only casualty.

''Mehrajuddin Waddoo will start in place of Pradeep and all others would be the same in starting line up,'' he said.

He also hinted that Baichung may not play the whole 90 minutes ''to preserve for next matches''.

Houghton, however, refused to describe the Bangladesh tie as a grudge match, saying, ''They will be treated the same way as any other team.'' ''They are our rivals tomorrow and we will play to win. That is all,'' the Englishman said.

The two teams last met during the SAFF Cup final in Karachi in December 2005 which India won 2-0.

Meanwhile, the Indian team had a practice session for over one hour during which they underwent drills on attacking from both the flanks, quick change of flanks, scoring practice from corner kicks and shooting practice.

The first XI, which Houghton said would start tomorrow, did the drills separately from the remaining players.

UNI