Less than a month out from the start of the AFF Suzuki Cup, Laos have appointed a new coach with former Singapore boss V.Sundramoorthy tasked with guiding the nation out of a tricky Group A.

With limited time to get accustomed to his new surrounds, the 53-year-old coach has declared that Laos must take full advantage of being able to play two of their four home matches on home soil for the first time.

“For me, I want to send a clear message to our fans and that’s we need you to be the 12th player on the pitch by lending your strong support.

“What I can assure you is that each and every player will give their best and that the team will play collectively as a strong unit and by hosting the AFF Suzuki Cup it gives us a great opportunity for Laotians to showcase their talent to the public.”

The new coach, who was in charge of Singapore at the previous edition of the AFF Suzuki Cup two years ago, knows that he faces a stern challenge given that they meet one of the tournament favourites in Vietnam in the opening match on November 8 and follow that up with a trip to Malaysia four days later in Kuala Lumpur.

With 2016 semi-finalists Myanmar as well as an improving Cambodian side also on the slate it’s certainly a tough section to prepare for on limited time but the man popularly known as Sundram is not prepared to make any excuses.

“To be honest I know we are in a tough group with Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia however I believe that in football anything is possible.

“We are going to take things one game at a time and put up a good performance in every match we play and as I said it will also be great to have the support of the local crowd behind the players.”

The appointment of Sundram follows the departure of another Singaporean in Mike Wong who came agonizingly close to steering the nation into the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup having won two of their three qualification matches.

Having been granted automatic inclusion for the current edition it means that 2016 remains the only time that Laos have failed to qualify for the regional showpiece but having never progressed beyond the group stage the new coach is already aware of what that could do for the football-mad nation.

“I can’t speak for the players but for me it’s very exciting and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

“We have many young and talented players here in Laos and the aim will be to use their individual strength to forge a collective strength as a team.

“If we do that I can promise you that we will be a tough opponent for any team.”