HURTING from the first encounter against Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) in Thursday's 0-0 draw, J1 League champions Kawasaki Frontale will settle for nothing less than a win in today's return fixture at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
It is evenly poised in Group I of the Asian Champions League with JDT, Frontale and Ulsan Hyundai all still capable of winning the group to take the single automatic qualification spot to the knockout stages.
Frontale came into this competition as one of the favourites for the Asian crown but found themselves in second spot behind JDT after three rounds of matches, and thus have no choice but to go for a win today.
Frontale coach Toru Oniki does not see second place as an option for his team and is prepared to take more risks with his tactics in order to get three points and their second win in the group stage.
"We only got a draw in the last game, so we need a win now and that's our focus for tomorrow's game," said Toru at the pre-match press conference yesterday,
"Of course there are certain conditions right now but we are only focused on winning the next game, then we will see how to proceed next.
"Second place will not be enough for us to go through, we need to win this group stage. We need to focus on winning the two games against JDT and Ulsan.
"It will be important to create more chances but we also need to be more accurate with our chances and look to convert those chances."
Frontale had the majority of the possession in Thursday's match but failed to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes as JDT's defence held strong.
The possible participation of Chanathip Songkrasin is hampered by the competition's import rules where Toru might have to drop the likes of Jung Sung-ryong, Joao Schmidt, Leandro Damiao or Marcio Barbosa if the Thai superstar is to feature.
Meanwhile JDT are riding on a wave of optimism, having stayed unbeaten in their three games thus far which put them top of the pile in Group I, two points ahead of Frontale.
Yet the remaining fixtures present a possible conundrum for Benjamin Mora as the taxing schedule begins to take a toll on all the participating teams including JDT.
Nine players have started all three of the matches against Guangzhou, Ulsan and Frontale; and Mora will have to decide how much more he can ask from each player going forward.
"The fourth game of the ACL becomes very difficult because of the players' fitness level with the recovery days being very short," said Mora at the same press conference.
"Players need time to recover and rest after a great effort on the pitch. Most of the players who have played the three games... their legs are quite tired. But their minds and hearts are as big as the stadium.
"One day of recovery is not enough, two days of recovery are not enough, we know that. The body needs rest and needs more than 48 hours to repeat the same effort.
"So if we're not at 100 per cent tomorrow, my expectation is that anyone selected who has played the three games, is at least at 80 per cent. Is that enough? We don't know but we're going to try."