Thailand youth team coach Issara Sritaro is expecting a reaction from his men, hammered 5-0 by Saudi Arabia on Friday night, when they take on Tajikistan in their last Group C game of the AFC U23 Asian Cup on Monday.
Abdullah Radif hit a hat-trick for defending champions Saudi Arabia, finding the net at 45+7, 49 and 73 minutes. Their two other goals came from Aiman Yahya in the fourth minute and Ahmed Al Ghamdi in the first-half added time.
While Saudi Arabia have already booked their place in the next round with six points from two matches, Thailand are now second in Group C with three points, the same as Iraq.
Issara told a post-match press conference on Friday night that his men could still qualify for the next stage of the tournament, having beaten Iraq 2-0 in the opening game on Tuesday.
"I am expecting a reaction from the team in the next match against Tajikistan," said Issara.
"Saudi Arabia are a very strong team and we found it difficult to contain them.
"We have many injured players, including our first-choice goalkeeper. This weakened our defence a great deal and we conceded goals.
"We failed to create any real scoring opportunities as well.
"The first thing the players need to do is to forget about this match and get fit before our next game.
"We made many mistakes in tonight's game so we would have make sure that the players do not make the same errors again."
Beetles stun Port
Former champions Chiang Rai United came back from a goal down to stun Port 2-1 in an away Thai League 1 game on Friday night.
Barros Tardeli put Port ahead in the 50th minute before Harhys Stewarts scored two goals in the 63rd and 68th minutes to help Chiang Rai United pick up three points and end their eight-game winless streak.