The Saudis arrived at the tournament under the stewardship of Jose Perseiro, but the Portuguese coach was dismissed after they lost their first Group B game to Syria.

Al Johar took over and will remain in charge until at least the end of the Asian Cup, where he will be hoping to go one better than the 2000 edition when he led Saudi Arabia to the semi-finals after also taking the reins one game into the tournament.

But he was keen to stress to Saudi fans not to expect instant results, saying: "I don't pretend I have a magic wand and can change things suddenly, but I can only promise we will do our best and I have big hopes for the national team

"I am confident I have the capability of improving the performance of the national team."

The 2-1 defeat to Syria came as something of a shock to many and Al Johar knows his side need three points against Jordan to avoid an early exit.

The Jordanians were denied a famous victory in their opening group game as a last-minute Maya Yoshida goal rescued a 1-1 draw for Japan.

"In football there are always mistakes made. In the last match we made some small mistakes that can be overcome in the coming match," added Al Johar.

"I have done my analysis of Jordan and I am confident we can overcome mistakes and weak points from last game."

Jordan will be without skipper Hatem Aqel for the game due to a knee injury.

Aqel was stretchered off during Jordan's draw with Japan and there has been no news yet on when he is expected to return.

"We have some injuries. Hatem Aqel, the captain, is out but we can compensate for that. We have enthusiasm and ability, our players are good and we hope to achieve our aims," said coach Adnan Hamad.

"Our target is to get to the next stage, we are capable of doing that and we have a good chance to do that. We have good confidence throughout the team and I think that we can do it."