The loss to Qatar done and dusted with, India are now looking forward to their next match against Bangladesh in the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Playing with 10 men for a major part of the match, India went down 0-1 to Asian champions Qatar on Thursday.

Midfielder Brandon Fernandes said the upcoming fixture is extremely crucial for India, who are going through one of their longest winless streaks of all time.

“We are moving as a team and we need to back each other. We are aware that we have specific roles in the team. The next match is extremely crucial as we need to sustain the momentum gained in the first match. The Qatar game is history,” Brandon was quoted as saying by an AIFF release.

India are above Bangladesh in rankings but defender Subhashish Bose acknowledged their opponents’ quality, having chosen to ignore the Fifa pecking order.

“They are a side that plays a lot of counter-attacking football. We have huge respect for Bangladesh,” Bose said.

The match is scheduled for Monday.

The last time the two sides met, India rode an Adil Khan equaliser to split points with the visitors at Salt Lake Stadium in October 2019.

Anirudh Thapa, meanwhile, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is under quarantine AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said.