The Central Asians comfortably defeated hosts Qatar in the opening game of the tournament last Friday, winning 2-0 to ensure they made the perfect start in their bid to improve on their last eight appearance at the previous two editions of the tournament.

Uzbekistan will likely fancy their chances of picking up another victory against a Kuwait side that were defeated by China in their first match of the group on Saturday.

However, Abramov knows his players can ill afford to take their opponents lightly or else risk needing to get a result from their final group game to be assured of a place in the last eight.

“My opinion is all the teams are strong teams,” he said.

“Winning the first game was very important to get three points but three points don't get you into the next round. We must play strong and we must take some more points.

“Now I think only of Kuwait, the players know they need to win because it is a chance to get into the next round.”

Three points for Kuwait are vital if they are to maintain their own hopes of progressing to the next round of the tournament.

And Abramov acknowledged that that added incentive for the reigning Gulf Cup and West Asian champions will make for a very close game between the two sides.

“I think it will be a very tough game. The difficulty is that Kuwait could lose the chance to qualify for the next round,” he added.

“Kuwait are champions in this area and so this is strong team.”

Uzbekistan have shown steady improvement on the international stage since making their first Asian Cup appearance back in 1996 and they arrived in Doha with aspirations of winning the title, something that remains very much the target for Abramov.

“I think my players want to play in the final and if you want to play in a final you must not lose any games,” he continued.

“Any team who comes here wants to win this tournament and Uzbekistan are the same, we want to win this tournament.

“I know my players can win here.”