Bangkok: Indonesia captain Hansamu Yama has compared Saturday’s match against Thailand to a cup final as the Garuda aim to keep their hopes alive in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup.

The Indonesians have yet to hit top form, losing 1-0 in Singapore on Matchday One before an unconvincing performance at home to Timor Leste on Tuesday. They needed three goals in the final 30 minutes to win 3-1, having fallen behind early in the second half.

The visitors will certainly have to raise their game against the tournament holders, who had no such problems as they thrashed Timor Leste 7-0 last week, with six goals from Adisak Kraisorn.

“This game is really important,” said Hansamu. “We consider the game against Thailand as a cup final. It will go a long way to deciding our fate in the competition and demonstrating whether or not we are good enough to make the semifinal.”

The defender pointed to the depth of the Thai squad as one of the biggest challenges for his side as they seek to reach the last four.

“All the Thailand players are good and we all know about their quality,” he said. “Even without players like Chanathip (Songkrasin) and Teerasil (Dangda), they are still strong. And, of course, we need to watch out for Adisak.

“But we’re not going to focus on one player as all of the Thai players can be dangerous and we are ready for the challenge.”

Hansamu admitted it was a relief to come back to win against Timor Leste after the Group B underdogs had stunned the home crowd by taking the lead in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“We were very relieved to get the win after losing the first match,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure on us from the home fans and then we conceded the first goal to add to the pressure. But the mentality of the players was good and we managed to turn things around.”

Hansamu admitted the expected presence of a large away support in Bangkok would provide added impetus for the Indonesians in a match in which they might well need at least a point.

“We really need support from our fans who have flown in from Indonesia,” he said. “Their presence will be motivation for us to beat Thailand.”