Subait Khater gave the hosts a first-half lead, scoring directly from a corner kick, but second-half goals by Abdoh Autef and substitute Ahmed Al Fraidi saw the Emirates slip to a second straight home loss that left them bottom of Group Two of the Asian qualifiers with no points from two games.

"It is still not impossible to qualify but we need to come out with some real good performances if we want to be in the competition," said Metsu.

"One thing that can turn in our favour is that there won't be any pressure in the coming games and when you play without pressure you can do wonderful things. I hope that can help the team to claw back into contention."

The Frenchman claimed that his players lacked mental strength, having seen them lose by a similar score to North Korea last weekend.

"We had a great first half but after the Saudis scored the equaliser they stopped playing," he said.

"It was a complete turnaround because they succumbed to the pressure.

"It was a similar case when we played North Korea. We had everything going our way in the first half and then threw everything away late in the game.

"I can change the players but I can't change their mindset."

However, Metsu saw no disgrace in losing to the Saudis, who are seeking to qualify for the World Cup for a fifth straight time.

"Sometimes it is easy to criticise after the game but we must remember we were playing against a good team.

"We had a good first half and had an opportunity to double the lead. And if we had scored again the result would have been different.

"We can only go back and work hard for the next game. A good result may get us back on the track. We still have six matches and we can only keep working for better results."