With Japan boasting just one goal in five games, CSKA Moscow's Keisuke Honda is set to start in a lone striker's role at the expense of Shimizu S-Pulse frontman Okazaki.

"That is the way competition for places is and I think it is healthy," Hasebe told Kyodo News.

"But Okazaki has been a key player for us and it is not as if he won't get another chance.

The Blue Samurai head into the match on the back of a five-game winless run.

They lost to Serbia, South Korea, England and Ivory Coast before being held to a goalless draw by Zimbabwe in a hastily-arranged final friendly on Thursday as coach Takeshi Okada looked to finalise his plans.