KARACHI: The Pakistan football team will leave for Dubai for their preparatory tour for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers on Saturday.

The tour is intended to help the team gel together for the all-important qualifiers which will be held from March 17 in Kyrgyzstan where Pakistan have been placed in Group ‘B’ and face the hosts Tajikistan and Macau.

“The team is set to leave for Dubai on March 9,” Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) secretary Col Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi told Dawn on Thursday.

“A match has been scheduled for March 13 although it isn’t yet confirmed whether it will be against the UAE under-19 or under-21 side.”

Looking forward to Pakistan’s chances, Lodhi said that although the absence of star defender Zesh Rehman and left-back Shabir Khan was a blow, they are counting on their Denmark-based duo of Hassan Bashir and Mohammad Ali to perform.

“If they fire, then we’ll have a good chance,” Lodhi said, referring to the outside chance of qualifying to the finals despite finishing second in their group. “The two best second-placed teams from the five groups have a chance to qualify for the tournament proper.”

Meanwhile, former Pakistan coach Tariq Lutfi said that the lone practice match wouldn’t be of much help considering that the national team will be facing tough opposition in Kyrgyzstan.

“One game is simply not enough when the team are preparing for a tough competition,” Lutfi said. “There is no magic formula to transform the team into Asia’s top side by these games. We need proper planning for preparatory tours.”