MAYA Yoshida has urged his Japanese teammates to be more clinical against Asian Cup opponents Uzbekistan on Thursday.

Saints’ defender has captained the Blue Samurai to two successive wins in the group stages over Turkmenistan and Oman.

And the tie with Uzbekistan will determine who will top the table as both teams sit on six points. 

Yoshida said: “We have to be more clinical.“We should have scored two or three more [against Oman]. Our performances are still not good enough clearly. We were a little bit lucky with the penalty we had — and the one not given as well.

“But the most important point for us was to get through the group.”

Japan headed into the Asian Cup with a lot of expectation following their run to the quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup last summer. But, Yoshida thinks that his side have a lot to improve on if they are to get the better of their rivals for the trophy.

He added: “I saw Iran at the World Cup, where they played really well. I was really impressed. 

“Australia and South Korea are always the most difficult opponents. We have to make sure we’re ready for them, we have to improve.”

Japan have won the Asian Cup a record four times and their manager Hajime Moriyasu says they need to take it one match at a time after qualifying from their group.

Moriyasu said: “We can’t expect to dominate every game. 

“It was important to get through the group. The key will be to grow into the tournament.”