New Bunyodkor coach Khikmat Irgashev will instil a simple attacking message in his charges for tomorrow's Asian Champions League meeting with United Arab Emirates champions Al Shabab in Dubai tomorrow.
Former assistant Irgashev will look to continue the work of predecessor Amet Memet who stepped down at the weekend to concentrate on his work with the Uzbekistan national team.
Memet guided last year's semi-finalists to a 2-1 home win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ettifaq last week in their Group D opener and Bunyodkor will again turn to Brazilian veteran Rivaldo, AFC Player of Year Server Djeparov and fellow Uzbekistan international Anvarjon Soliev, who struck twice in last week's hard-fought win over Al Ettifaq.
"We have come here to win and we will play an attacking game," said Irgashev.
"We have Rivaldo. He's not what he was in his prime but still a player who can turn the game around. That doesn't mean we are a one-man team. We have a strong squad and Rivaldo is the one with a big reputation."
Al Shabab will look to continue their domestic form which saw Toninho Cerezo's side beat bottom club Al Khaleej 6-0 at the weekend which followed their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Iran's Sepahan.
"We needed something like this, a big result, before we face Bunyodkor," said former Brazil midfielder Cerezo.
"It is not easy to win 6-0 against any team and this is the kind of performance I would expect before a big game. We did everything right in this game and I believe it is a good thing to get my team back on the ACL track."
In tomorrow's other Group D encounter, Al Ettifaq will hope home advantage proves the difference against Sepahan at Prince Mohammed Stadium.
"We have discussed the main reasons behind our defeat in Uzbekistan," said Romanian coach Ioan Andone.
"We have tried our best to correct the mistakes that we made in that game before we play Sepahan.
"In the previous match we played well but the result was not good for us. This is our home debut in the ACL and we must take advantage of playing at home."
Sepahan counterpart Farhad Kazemi watched Al Ettifaq in domestic action against Al Ittihad and hopes that will be the key to claiming all three points.
"Al Ettifaq's defeat against Bunyodkor shows that we can still beat them at home because we watched their strengths and weaknesses," he said.
Memet guided last year's semi-finalists to a 2-1 home win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ettifaq last week in their Group D opener and Bunyodkor will again turn to Brazilian veteran Rivaldo, AFC Player of Year Server Djeparov and fellow Uzbekistan international Anvarjon Soliev, who struck twice in last week's hard-fought win over Al Ettifaq.
"We have come here to win and we will play an attacking game," said Irgashev.
"We have Rivaldo. He's not what he was in his prime but still a player who can turn the game around. That doesn't mean we are a one-man team. We have a strong squad and Rivaldo is the one with a big reputation."
Al Shabab will look to continue their domestic form which saw Toninho Cerezo's side beat bottom club Al Khaleej 6-0 at the weekend which followed their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Iran's Sepahan.
"We needed something like this, a big result, before we face Bunyodkor," said former Brazil midfielder Cerezo.
"It is not easy to win 6-0 against any team and this is the kind of performance I would expect before a big game. We did everything right in this game and I believe it is a good thing to get my team back on the ACL track."
In tomorrow's other Group D encounter, Al Ettifaq will hope home advantage proves the difference against Sepahan at Prince Mohammed Stadium.
"We have discussed the main reasons behind our defeat in Uzbekistan," said Romanian coach Ioan Andone.
"We have tried our best to correct the mistakes that we made in that game before we play Sepahan.
"In the previous match we played well but the result was not good for us. This is our home debut in the ACL and we must take advantage of playing at home."
Sepahan counterpart Farhad Kazemi watched Al Ettifaq in domestic action against Al Ittihad and hopes that will be the key to claiming all three points.
"Al Ettifaq's defeat against Bunyodkor shows that we can still beat them at home because we watched their strengths and weaknesses," he said.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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