The prolific Dynamo Kiev hitman played a key role in Uzbekistan’s qualification for the tournament, however the 28-year-old will have to sit out Wednesday’s match at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium after being handed a one-match ban for his red card against Qatar in the Central Asian side’s final qualifier.

"Of course, every team has its own problems when it comes to tournaments and unfortunately, we will not have the services of Maksim Shatskikh because of suspension," said Inileyev on Tuesday at a pre-match press conference.

"The presence of Shatskikh would strengthen our team but we have got other players who can play in his place. We have a squad of 23 and empty spots can always be filled by other players."

Of greater concern to Inileyev is the loss of veteran central defender Asror Alikulov, who is out for the tournament after suffering a head injury during their recent training camp in Korea.

Alikulov’s absence leaves Uzbekistan with a central defence that consists of converted left back Aleksey Nikolaev and a 29-year-old with only two international appearances, Hayrulla Karimov.

"The problem is not only Shatskikh as we have also lost an important defender in Alikulov who was injured in our training camp and had to be sent home to Tashkent," Inileyev said.

"However, as I said earlier, all teams have their problems when it comes to tournaments and it would be difficult to have all of your best players at 100% for the games."

Given the absence of Shatskikh and Alikulov, Inileyev could hardly have asked for a tougher start to the tournament against a strong Iran side seeking its first Asian Cup title since 1976.

"I don’t know whether we are lucky or unlucky to play Iran in our first game. They are one of the strongest teams in Asia and they qualified to play at the 2006 World Cup so we must respect them.

"But we will try to play our best game and get a result that will make our fans happy.

"The decision on who we play at this tournament is not determined by us so we just have to prepare ourselves in the best way. We don’t choose our opponents so I cannot say whether it is good or bad that we are playing against Iran in our opening game."

While Inileyev has a healthy respect for the Iranians, he believes that his side will offer them a strong challenge on Wednesday.

"We want to win all of our matches here but Iran are a strong team and even a draw against them would be a good result for any team," the Uzbek coach said.

"Iran have a target at this tournament but so do we. We are a young country and we have a young team here but we didn’t just come here to play; we want to win as well.

"Of course, we may not be favourites like Iran but we are still among the top teams in Asia."