The hosts are playing in their ninth edition of the tournament and are viewed as favourites to kick start their campaign with a victory over Al Nassr at Pakhtakor Stadium in their Group B opener on Tuesday.

However, Pakhtakor have seen Odil Ahmedov – one of the stars of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ in January – and striker Alexander Geynrikh depart the club recently having been loaned to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala and Korean side Suwon Samsung Bluewings respectively.

Though the two were very influential members of the team, there have been some new arrivals with Serbian Dusan Savic bolstering the attack, Georgian Kakhi Makharadze and Timur Kagirov reinforcing the backline while promising youngster Temurhodja Abdukhalikov has been snared from arch-rivals Bunyodkor.

“I know that Pakhtakor have lost two of their best players, but I don’t think that will seriously affect the performance of the team,“ said Skocic.

“I am assured that there are worthy replacements of these players.

“Let's remember that Pakhtakor is the only club that has taken part in all editions of AFC Champions League, since the very first one in 2002/2003.”

Skocic, though, does plan to capitalise on Pakhtakor’s lack of competitive football in recent months.

The Uzbek league season has not yet got under way while Al Nassr’s domestic campaign is in full swing as they find themselves in third place in the Saudi Arabian standings with just one defeat in their last 10 games.

“Pakhtakor are a very strong team. However, the fact that they have not played official matches for four months could work in our advantage,” said Skocic.

Pakhtakor coach Ravshan Haydarov, meanwhile, is happy with how his side’s preparations for the AFC Champions League have gone.

“We have not played any official matches for a long time but during foreign camps we have played many friendly matches,” he said.

“Yes these matches are unofficial, but for the team that we are creating it is useful preparations.

“If you look you can see that we have played against the European teams during our preparations and I hope it will yield the results in a tomorrow's match.”

Haydarov is also confident the new additions to his squad will prove their worth during their AFC Champions League campaign.

“Abdukhalikov has played in many matches while we also tested Kakhi Makharadze in different positions. Only Dusan Savic didn't play in friendly matches yet. But I hope he, as a professional player, adapts to our style of game quickly.”