'We must stay realistic': Butler admits gulf in quality ahead of second Thailand friendly

Bangladesh women's team coach Peter Butler has called for realism from all quarters ahead of Monday's second and final international friendly against Thailand in Bangkok, reminding everyone of the gulf in quality between the two sides as his team continues preparations for next March's AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia.

The match will kick off at 5:00pm (Bangladesh time) at the 72nd Anniversary Stadium (Bang Mod), Bangkok.

Butler, who had come down heavily on his side for their attitude and approach after going 3-0 down to a strong Thailand outfit on Friday, expressed satisfaction following subsequent training sessions at the Rom Sai Football Ground. The focus in training, he said, was on tactical refinement and set-piece practice.

"I've been pleased with the girls. I've had a chat with a few individual girls and I'm pleased with the approach and the mindset and especially the focus of one or two girls who I feel can be real match-winners and didn't really show their true potential the other night," said Butler, without naming the players.

Butler said that while the system had been tweaked slightly, he was largely content with the way his charges performed in the first friendly. "We've changed the system a little bit. I just feel we've got to fill a few holes," he said. "I didn't have a real problem with the way the girls played the other night. I thought they actually played the better football. But we just created some elementary mistakes, conceding a goal in the first minute. And it always leaves yourself a mountain to climb. But the attitude in training has been very, very good."

Asked whether Bangladesh would go into the second match looking for a win, Butler replied, "Listen, can you tell me the last time Bangladesh won in Thailand? No. Maybe sometimes in life you have to be careful what you wish for. And I just think the most important thing is that we're building momentum. It's like a little bit of an operation reset in terms of actually we've had girls playing, who have only trained with us for a couple of days, nine girls, who are an integral part of the team.

"…I want to win. But we all have to put things in context and be realistic. We are not at the level of Thailand. We have to be honest with ourselves. They're a very, very good team and they'll show that. They'll probably put out a completely different team. Sometimes you're only as strong as your bench and you look at their bench and they've got another team on the bench. So I think we have to be realistic," Butler continued.

He added, "And if we're talking about setting standards and being more professional, we have to aspire to that before we have visions of grandeur, thinking we can come to places such as Thailand and win football matches. Do I think we can give them a run for their money? Of course I do. But I live in the real world, I don't live in La La Land and I wish some people would really think before they speak."

Butler also voiced his frustration at the lack of home fixtures for the women's team since their two friendlies against Chinese Taipei. "I think what you have to take into consideration is that we have not had any home fixtures since Chinese Taipei. Now, you can talk about beating teams away from home. Winning games away from home, there's a lot of variables which come into play. And I don't play the blame game and I don't make excuses. But winning games at home is a lot easier than winning games away, I can assure you," said Butler.