SINGAPORE -- After Timor-Leste suffered an emphatic 7-0 loss to defending champions Vietnam in the opening round of matches at the ASEAN Championship, Singapore fans might already be rubbing their hands in anticipation of the prospect of their team coming up against the region's perennial underdogs at Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday.
But on the eve of the clash, as his side eye a second consecutive win after starting their Group A campaign with a dramatic 2-1 win over Cambodia, Lions coach Gavin Lee has cautioned against expectations that a similarly emphatic victory is on the cards.
"It doesn't matter how we win, as long as we win," said Lee, when asked if Singapore might be looking to match Vietnam's high-scoring ways -- a fair question considering goal difference could always be a factor.
"First and foremost, that is most important.
"If you watched the game between Vietnam and Timor-Leste, the score kind of flattered Vietnam. If you looked at the possession Timor-Leste had, they caused Vietnam so much problems. They are a very well-coached side but ultimately Vietnam's quality came through.
"The goals they conceded were quite back-to-back. So perhaps it was a situation where Timor-Leste didn't manage themselves during those big moments.
"But looking at it overall, you cannot allow the score to write the story. We need to be very careful and that's something that's been made aware in the team."
Singapore will certainly be looking to show how much they have learned from a nervous start to their campaign against Cambodia, where they only snatched maximum points courtesy of Ilhan Fandi's stunning winner in the 11th minute of stoppage time.
Especially in the second half as they were chasing a winner, there were moments where the Lions were just found wanting when it came to the final pass inside the attacking third.
"The risk with transition is, as quickly as you want to counter and exploit space, then they [the opposition] also get space and then it becomes a ping-pong game," said Lee.
"We addressed part of that. What was good was we were taking risks. We were trying to exploit the space. For whatever reason, we didn't take it but the good thing is that we were identifying it.
"Now, it's about exploiting it and executing better. I've seen these boys do it before and it's about doing it tomorrow. We want to score and we know we have the players that can do it."
An intriguing subplot from a Singapore perspective will be who Lee opts for as his spearhead against the Timorese.
Shawal Anuar, perhaps surprisingly, got the nod and did open the scoring against Cambodia, before Ilhan came on to produce his match-winning turn.
Ilhan was seated alongside his coach in Sunday's pre-match news conference although that was not necessarily a hint that he would be starting, given it was the same pair that Singapore had fielded prior to the game against Cambodia.
"I've always said I love the pressure," said Ilhan. "It makes me want to perform better for my country.
"It [scoring the spectacular winner against Cambodia] feels good. It's obviously a morale booster going into the Timor-Leste game but, as coach Gavin said, Timor-Leste have improved massively.
"We need to be mindful of that."