Coach of Japanese club Kawasaki Frontale, Tsutomo Takahata, is expecting to face a tough Seongam Ilhwa side tonight.

The two clubs face off in the first group stage of the Asian Champions League at Seongnam's Tancheon Sports Complex and although the South Korean's will be without two of last season's key midfielders, Takahata is aware they will be prove a difficult task.

"It is possible that Seongnam may not be as powerful without midfielders Lee Ho and Kim Jung-woo but they still have some good players." he said.

"It is an honour to play a representative team of Asia like Seongnam. We expect a tough game but we will do all we can to win.

"We have been training hard and for a week after the East Asian Championships we focused on playing together as a team. We want to get off to a good start in this year's tournament."