Somerset paceman Charl Willoughby has admitted the Sabres let themselves down by not winning the Pro40 title and want to make up for it with success in the Champions League.

Somerset CCC lost to Durham by two wickets at Taunton last month to miss out on domestic silverware.

On Saturday they open their bid to call themselves the best Twenty20 side in the world against Indian Premier League champions Deccan Chargers.

Willoughby said: "The last couple of games of the season, we let ourselves down a bit but we deserve to win something, so hopefully we can go out there and achieve the ultimate dream.

"We have learned a lot throughout the season. We have made a few mistakes here and there, but we are putting things together.

"It will be more intense than the domestic Twenty20 – no doubt about it – because of the profile of the tournament, and the amount of people who are going to be watching is immense.

"We have to remain calm under the whole pressure of the tournament."

Cricketers are revered in India and, as Willoughby puts it, "badgered constantly".

"It is exciting to get put on that sort of platform," he said. "It is nice to have God-like status. We will all embrace that.

"I feel we can be successful. Obviously, it is an opportunity for a lot of our players who are coming to the end of our careers, because you don't know when these things are going to happen again."

Somerset have been in Hyderabad since the start of the week and are due to be joined by vice-captain Marcus Trescothick, who has been allowed to arrive later because of his previous problems with overseas cricket.

As a result, he will not play in today's warm-up game against New Zealand side Otago Volts.

Somerset also play Trinidad and Tobago on Monday.

"Every single team deserves to be there and they have all got world class players, as we do," said Willoughby.

"We have a strong enough squad and they probably think we will be a tough team as well.

"But we have to be top of our game in every single department."