Thailand's U23 team received a boost after rising star forward Suphanat Mueanta declared himself fit and ready to play for the young War Elephants in the AFC U23 Championship, which begins next week.
Suphanat, of Thai League 1 giants Buriram United, has joined the rest of the U23 squad after recovering from a right ankle injury he had suffered during the SEA Games in the Philippines. He missed the team's first training stint last month.
"It's good finally to be back with the team," said Suphanat. "I need to train hard and work with my teammates and improve our teamwork."
At just 17 years of age, Suphanat has become one of the key players of the U23 team, but the young forward has played down the pressure and insisted he's just focused on improving as a player.
"I try not to think too much about it and just focus on learning from the coach and trying to improve all the time," said Suphanat.
"This tournament will be tough but I think we have a chance to make it through the group stage. All of our opponents are strong but it is a chance to measure ourselves against the best teams of Asia."
Meanwhile Suphanat's Buriram clubmate Supachai Chaided admitted the expectations are high for the team as Thailand is a host nation.
"This is the tournament that Thai football fans are expecting a lot," said the 21-year-old lanky forward. "I also expect a lot from myself because I want to play in the Olympic Games. The players will try to do their best."
The top three teams from the Jan 8-26 tournament will earn spots at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The young War Elephants will play Bahrain in their opening Group A match next Wednesday at 8.15pm at Rajamangala National Stadium. The match will be shown live on Channel 7 and Fox Sports. Iraq and Australia are the other two teams in the group.
The team will play a warm-up game with Saudi Arabia today.