India's ace striker Baichung Bhutia, recuperating from knee surgery, will miss the crucial return tie against North Korea in the Asian Cup preliminary round, at the Nehru stadium, in Fatorda, Goa, on Sunday.

Following its arrival on Friday afternoon, the Indian team, which lost 0-2 to North Korea in the away match, had a practice session in the evening without Baichung Bhutia and defender Debjit Ghosh, who is down with a viral infection.

Indian coach Stephen Constantine conceded that the "absence of Bhutia will be felt greatly as his experience would have made a difference. He is a fox in the box".

"The Koreans are a good side and it will be difficult to beat them as they have an advantage, having won against us in the away match and need just a draw to progress further," the coach said.

"They will employ more men in the defence and invite us to attack them and will try to make counter moves. The first 15 minutes will be crucial. If we succeed in scoring then we have a good chance of winning the match.

"The heat will be a major factor as the Koreans are not accustomed to the humid conditions. We will try to take advantage and exploit the humid conditions.

"In the away match, our boys played well especially in the second-half. In the last 20 minutes we created few scoring chances and Climax Lawerence nearly scored but their keeper made a brilliant save," he added.

Constantine had special praise for defender Mahesh Gawli, who played an outstanding game against the Koreans.

The Koreans, after their arrival last evening, also had a pratice session at Tilak ground, Vasco. They were literally feeling the heat but were confident of winning against the Indians.

But they are not taking the Indians lightly. 

 Korean chief coach Ri Jong Man said, "We faced stiff resistance from them in the first-half and our defence was tested in the second-half of the match at Pyongyang.

"The two goals advantage will work in our favour. But we do not want to discount the Indians at any cost. They are a complete side.

"The climate here is very hot compared to the cool climate at home. We are getting adjusted to the humid conditions. We are practising in afternoon so that the training will suit our cause on Sunday," Man added.