Thailand must win their Asian Cup opener against India on Sunday to restore their confidence following recent hiccups that have their fans worried.

The Kingdom have reset their focus to reach the knockout stages of the quadrennial competition after their title defence in last month’s AFF Suzuki Cup crumbled with a loss to Malaysia in the semi-finals.

As a regional powerhouse with dreams of one day reaching the World Cup Finals, anything less than the AFF title was therefore deemed unacceptable by their supporters.

Milovan Rajevac’s ultra-defensive game came under scrutiny it failed to bring home the trophy for the third time running, even though his side never lost a game in the tournament,.

Qualifying for the round of 16 in the United Arab Emirates is therefore a chance for the Serbian to prove that his preferred cautious approach really suits the War Elephants.

This is the biggest competition for Asian teams after the World Cup: Thailand’s best finish in six previous campaigns was third place, when the Kingdom hosted the event in 1972.

Since then it has failed to qualify five times and reached five Cup finals, never doing better than seventh.

If Rajevac’s team fail to make it out of Group A the coach would almost certainly have to pack his bags as Thai FA chief Somyot Poompanmoung has already announced that reaching the knockouts is the minimum required for him to keep his job.

Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Oman in a behind-closed-doors warm-up raised even more concerns about where the team is at – it came despite Thailand being strengthened by the return of key players Teerasil Dangda (striker), Chanathip Songkrasin) midfielder) and Theerathon Bunmathan (left back).

Rajevac admitted he was disappointed by the loss to Oman but still saw some positives as it gave him the chance to give playing time to all 23 players in his before Sunday’s Cup opener.

“We divided them into two groups and everyone got a chance to compete,” said the 65-year-old coach.

“I was impressed by a few scoring opportunities we created according to our game plan but we just couldn’t capitalise on them.”

Rajevac has instructed his players to put that setback behind them and focus on the Group A match against India, which kicks off at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abhu Dahbi at 8.30pm (Thailand time) and will be broadcast live on Channel 7 and Fox Sports HD.

“I already pointed out the flaws to the players in a meeting,” Rajevac added. “But we must forget that game in order to concentrate on Sunday. We will do everything to start this tournament with a good result.”

Compared to Bahrain and hosts UAE, the other nations in Group A, India should not provide much of a headache for Thailand.

They will probably need to win on Sunday and draw one of their two other games to progress in second place or as one of the four best third-placed teams that will make up the round of 16.

Only a win on Sunday will rekindle the confidence of the players amid rumours of locker room restlessness as they begun to wonder if they really fit into the coach’s system.

One thing is for sure: defeat on Sunday would not only spell the likely end of Thailand’s Middle East campaign but the job of their coach too.