AFC Asian Cup: Hong Kong boss Andersen promises side will come out ‘fighting’ in clash with heavyweights Iran

Hong Kong take on Iran in the Asian Cup on Saturday, and head coach Jorn Andersen promised his side would be unrecognisable from the one that lost 4-0 to the same opponents in November.

Andersen has had the relative luxury of a four-week training camp to prepare for the rematch in Qatar, and the strides made in that period were apparent in their luckless opening 3-1 defeat by United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

Iran too may not pose the same threat they did in the World Cup qualifier in Tehran, with head coach Amir Ghalenoei planning to make “three of four changes” from the first-choice 11 that brushed aside Palestine in their first Group C fixture in Doha.

While Andersen previously said Iran resting some of their big guns would give his side “a small chance”, talking to the media on Thursday, the Norwegian claimed Hong Kong were equipped for whatever opponents ranked 21st in the world throw at them.

“Our condition is much better than before the training camp, and you saw in the first game, our team will fight and press for 90 minutes,” said Anderson, who revealed his entire 26-man squad had trained on Wednesday.