Phnom Penh: Felix Dalmas believes Cambodia’s week-long break since defeat in Myanmar will benefit his side as they prepare to face Laos in Group A of the AFF Suzuki Cup on Tuesday.

The Angkor Warriors started brightly in Mandalay and took a one-goal lead into the interval, but Myanmar fought back to secure a 4-1 victory to mean only a win at Olympic Stadium will leave the Cambodians with any chance of advancing to the semi-finals.

Just like in Mandalay, Dalmas will have the joint head coach Keisuke Honda alongside him on the touchline as Cambodia seek their first three points of the campaign against a Laos team who have already been eliminated.

“Our preparation has been longer so we’ve been able to work on some of the mistakes that we made in the last game and build on the things that we did well,” said Argentine Dalmas.

“The players have been able to get better rested and we’ve been able to see more of the opponent’s games which has helped us prepare better.

“Time makes a big difference so hopefully this week – as we have shown in the past few games – we will show that we’re improving little by little and it will be an improvement from the last game.”

After suffering three defeats from three, Laos have already been eliminated from the AFF Suzuki Cup but they hope to round off their campaign on a high note in Phnom Penh.

Sundramoorthy’s side have gone in front against both Malaysia and Myanmar but ended up losing both games 3-1 as late goals on each occasion saw them unlucky to miss out on points.

But they can take plenty of positives from games in which they have held their own as underdogs and head into the match with Cambodia looking to make up for missed opportunities.

“We have played three games and I think in the last two our performance was much better and we should have got something, but we were unlucky,” said Sundramoorthy.

“Obviously we’ve been analysing our mistakes from the previous games and trying to educate the boys because it will take some time for them to understand my philosophy.

“I feel that they’re improving game by game, but we need to make sure they don’t make individual mistakes. We are definitely prepared for tomorrow’s match.

“We are looking forward to the game against Cambodia, and are hoping to go out there and get a good result.”