Both sides have one point from their opening two Group C games and with Al Ittihad setting the pace, it seems second spot and a place in the last 16 is shaping up to be a straight fight between the Iranians, the Uzbeks and UAE champions Al Wahda.

As such, Daei did not try to play down the significance of the clash as he tries to plot the downfall of former team-mate Kasimov.

“Both for us and for Bunyodkor, tomorrow's match will be very important since both of our teams could not achieve the desired result in the first matches,” said the Piroozi boss.

“I respect Bunyodkor and am well acquainted with the team and their tactics as well as the head coach Mirjalol Kasimov as we played together for Emirates club Al Shabab.

“I think both our teams, as well as Al Wahda, have a chance of reaching the next round. I know that Piroozi and Bunyodkor met two years ago in the AFC Champions League but I did not review the records of that match.

“In addition, two years ago Bunyodkor fielded foreign and the best local players. Now there is more emphasis on team play.”

Bunyodkor came out on top in the last 16 at the Azadi Stadium two years ago thanks to a Rivaldo penalty and with Piroozi missing forwards Gholamreza Rezaei and Mazyar Zare through suspension, a point in Tashkent would represent a good night's work for Daei.

“It will not be so easy tomorrow because we're playing without two disqualified players - Gholamreza Rezaei and Mazyar Zare.

“We come here to win although I would be pleased with the draw because all the teams fighting for second place in the group have roughly the same number of points.”

While Piroozi's domestic campaign draws to a close with the Tehran club currently just outside of the AFC Champions League places, Bunyodkor's has just begun and they dropped their first points of the season in a goalless draw with Neftchi on Friday.

Kasimov has called on his side to cut out the errors that contributed to the 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Al Ittihad last time out.

“We and Piroozi have about the same chance to take second place in the group,” he said.

“In the previous game, we lost to Al Ittihad due to our own mistakes. Now we have to make up for the loss of points with victory over Piroozi.

“The whole team understands the seriousness of the situation so tomorrow we are only satisfied with winning.

“I believe in my players, they are able to beat Piroozi. Slavoljub Djordjevic, Shavkat Salomov and Khairulla Karimov have minor injuries but we still have a day before the match, so we hope they will recover.”