Kuwait gunning for three points

Kuwait coach Goran Tufedgic may believe a draw will be a good result against the Socceroos in Canberra on Thursday, but will encourage his team to go for all three points given his team's position in the qualifying group.

Kuwait coach Goran Tufedgic may believe a draw will be a good result against the Socceroos in Canberra on Thursday, but will encourage his team to go for all three points given his team's position in the qualifying group.

Kuwait sits rock-bottom of the Asian Cup qualifying group having lost its opening match against Oman in January. It now faces the difficult task of Australia at home in a bid to get off the mark.

While the prospect of taking on Asia's No.1 ranked team in front of its home crowd in his first competitive match as national coach may be a daunting one for the Serbian, he believes his team can't afford to be overawed.

"It's a very important match because we lost that first game 1-0 against Oman. Our team is coming here to try and good a good result and get our campaign going," he said.

"Our team is coming to Australia to give our best effort. We can try to win, why not? It's football. But same, it's important not to lose. We want to win, but we want to get something out of the match."

"We have to be ready for this match, because it's a very important match for both teams. Australia needs a win because they draw with Indonesia and we have to win as well."

Tufedgic took over the team when Mohammed Ibrahem stepped down after the match against Oman. But while there may be a new regime, the coach will not be making too many sweeping changes to his side ahead of Thursday's match.

"There's not too much change from the game against Oman, because we only have four players who could not play in that first match. A little bit of change in the style and system but generally everything stays the same," he said.

Ahmad Ajab, the only member of the Kuwait side who plies his trade outside of the Gulf state, would appear the visitor's key player. Tufedgic said the striker, who plays for Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia, is important but he wouldn't be shaping his side around him.

"All players are important. Ajab plays in the Saudi Arabia professional league and he's important for us, but I won't change our system because of one player," he said.

Tufedgic has had his squad in camp in New Zealand over the past week, playing a couple of matches against clubs in Auckland in order to get his side used to the more physical, European-like Australian style.

"Our camp in New Zealand was very important because the style of play in New Zealand and Australia is the same. This is a little different style then we play in the club and national team in the gulf," he said.

"For us, his seven or eight days were important, we played two friendly match and our players have some experience ahead of this match against Australia."