Polking expects better show from Thailand against UAE

Thailand coach Mano Polking is hoping the War Elephants will avoid the mistakes they committed against Syria when they take on the United Arab Emirates in their second Fifa Day friendly tonight.

The Thais were defeated 3-1 by Syria despite dominating most of the match on Saturday night in Dubai.

The game against the UAE will be played at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi with the kick-off scheduled for 1am (Thai time). It will be televised live by AIS Play and Thai Rath TV (32).

Polking, speaking to the media for the first time since his men's loss to Syria, said he was disappointed by the outcome of Saturday night's friendly.

"It was a disappointing score for the team," he said. "Actually, we played very well in that game.

"It was a game in which we worked very hard and should have got a better result.

"We controlled the game, but the result did not come out as expected which means we need to work even harder."

Polking added: "There is one more game against the UAE and these two matches will help us assess our ability to compete against the higher ranked sides.

"Actually, the game with Syria was very close. We just have to cut down the number of mistakes we commit during games.

"I am hoping that we would do better in the next game."

Polking said he would decide on the starting line-up after checking the fitness of all players.

Meanwhile, the Thai U23 team will face Kuwait in the third-place play-off of the International U23 Doha Cup tonight in Doha.