Brisbane Roar boss John Aloisi slammed Football Federation Australia (FFA) for the scheduling that has left them with a weakened team for the AFC Champions League (ACL) clash with Muang Thong United on Wednesday.
The Australian side overcame Western Sydney Wanderers after extra time and a penalty shootout in the A-League elimination final on Friday. This result saw them through to the semifinal at Melbourne Victory on Sunday.
The gruelling nature of Friday's victory, in addition to the long journey to Bangkok, means Aloisi has been forced to leave behind several of his top players, including top scorer Jamie Maclaren.
"We still play in a league in which the federation hasn't given us the best opportunity to do as well as we would like to in the Champions League," Aloisi told ESPN FC.
"When we played Muang Thong in Brisbane, we played on the Saturday, and again on the Tuesday, because that was our schedule, and they didn't change the game for us. At the moment, I have to think about the competitions that we're in and where it's going to be worthwhile trying to achieve our goal of winning something.
"We've currently got more of an opportunity of winning something in the A-League. It doesn't mean that we're taking this game for granted, or lightly. We still want to play our football, and hopefully progress but, at the moment, our full strength side will play on Sunday in Melbourne."
While Maclaren has been left behind, another of Brisbane's stars, Thomas Broich, has made the trip to Thailand in his farewell season in Queensland.
"He'll be important to the young players," said Aloisi. "He'll end up having to coach them a lot on the pitch and lead by example but we know he'll be able to do that."
There are doubts, however, over the 36-year-old German's ability to last the full 90 minutes after last Friday's exertions.
"We'll have to see the way the game goes," said Aloisi. "If it's a high-tempo game, then maybe not. If not, the longer the game goes, the more he'll be able to get on the ball and cause problems for the opposition but we'll have to wait and see."
Explaining the absence of Maclaren, Aloisi added, "He was a little bit too sore and tired after Friday's match."
The Thai champions have a full squad to choose from, with the exception of the injured Adisak Kraisorn. Muang Thong United head coach Totchtawan Sripan remains wary of the challenge posed by the weakened A-League side.
"We have high hopes for the game, but we are not underestimating the opposition. Totchtawan said.
"Even though they do not have all their best players, they will still have a strong side. If we can play in a disciplined way, and are technically and tactically sound, we can be confident of a positive result."
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This is part three of a Thailand versus Australia trilogy that started last November when the countries faced off in an AFC World Cup qualifier in Bangkok. The Thais, featuring many of the Muang Thong side, were unlucky to be held 2-2 after a passionate performance.
The ACL fixture in Brisbane in February saw Muang Thong fail to take advantage of their superiority, and the game ended goalless. Totchtawan, however, does not see any need to look back at these games for clues as to what might happen on Wednesday.
"You can't really compare the ACL matches with the games involving the national side," Totchtawan told ESPN FC. "We're going to play our game, and that might be completely different from the other two matches."
The Thais know that a win will be enough to see them through to the next stage of the competition for the first time. With Brisbane Roar fielding most of their second-stringers, the home side might never have a better opportunity.