Bunyodkor's star striker Rivaldo will miss tonight's Asian Champions League group stage match with an ankle injury.

The Brazilian great will be forced out of the return clash as the Uzbekistan team, coached by ex-Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, attempts to bounce back from a last start 3-0 loss to the Iranians.

"We will play without Rivaldo and Joao Victor," confirmed Scolari.

"Despite of this, it will be an important match for us. We have to win and we will do our best to win."

Bunyodkor have two wins and the loss to Zob Ahan in their opening three matches and Scolari knows just how important this game is to win, especially as they are at home.

"We have prepared for the Zob Ahan match for the whole week," continued Scolari.

"I hope it's enough to play well. If we will lose the match then we will lose our chance to qualify. I don't think we have to be first in the group. Our main target is to qualify.

"Zob Ahan is a very good team. They deserved to beat us last week but we have analysed our mistakes and I hope that we'll manage not to repeat them.

"Iranian players are very strong dribblers and they like to shoot from every possible position. So we have to be more compact in defence."