Uzbekistan had gone ahead in the 41st minute when Makism Shatskikh’s free-kick deflected off Azizbek Haydarov and into the back of the net but Kuwait hit back four minutes into the second half with a Bader Al Mutawa penalty.

However, a superb long-range strike from Server Djeparov handed Uzbekistan all three points that puts them on the cusp of reaching a third successive AFC Asian Cup quarter-final.

For Kuwait, however, the defeat means they are all but certain to be on an early flight home, but Tufegdzic felt there was little more his players could have done in the last two games.

“Now this is a very bad feeling,” said the Serbian. “Our team lost this match but we have one match remaining against Qatar. Our target is to win that match and pick up our first three points of the tournament.

“Maybe my players need more experience but what can you do, these things happen and one thing is for sure is that these players have a good future.

“Our team lost many chances against Kuwait but they are very young; the average age of our squad is under 23.

“You saw today our team have the players to get a good result but they need experience.”

Kuwait’s defeat was just the latest for teams in the Gulf region and Tufegdzic feels that perhaps players from the region are struggling to deal with the style of football from other countries.

“The Asian Cup is a very high quality competition,” added the Serbian. “The teams play different styles of football, especially the likes of China, Japan and Korea Republic.

“Playing against these kinds of teams is maybe a problem for Gulf teams.”

Tufegdzic also felt the loss of Mesaed Neda so early in the tournament was a massive blow to Kuwait’s ambitions of reaching the second round.

The defender was sent off after just 35 minutes of the opening game against China and Tufegdzic believes his team wasweaker for his absence.

“For us Mesaed Nada is a very important player,” he continued. “He has a good pass and is very skilfull, so my team missed him.”