Kashiwa Reysol manager Tatsuma Yoshida remained bullish about his side’s chances ahead of his team’s AFC Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash with Guangzhou Evergrande.

Having lost the first-leg at home 3-1, Reysol will now need to win by at least three goals to advance past the 2013 champions, who they also lost to in the semi-finals of that year’s competition.

But though he acknowledged the scale of their task, Yoshida insisted his men would fight over the 90 minutes at Tianhe Stadium, and did not rule out their chances of springing a surprise turnaround.

“We understand just how improbable our chances are,” he told reporters at a pre-match press conference. 

“Everyone thinks we’re going to lose, and they may be right. Our opponents are Guangzhou Evergrande, an incredibly strong team.

“But we’re looking to unite and find a hole in their strategy and fight over 90 minutes so that we can come back to Japan with a good result.”

Reysol will be seeking to use the match as an opportunity to bounce back from a miserable start to September, in which they were knocked out of the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup quarter-finals.

Their match against Evergrande will kick off on Tuesday at 20:00 local time.