The Saudi side, who are playing in the AFC Champions League for the first time, were impressive in the opening round when they won all of their home games to top Group D.

Having lost their opener to Bunyodkor in Tashkent, Ettifaq exacted revenge by hammering the Uzbek champions 4-0 in Dammam to seal their qualification for the knockout stage with a game to spare.

With that result in mind, Andone is happy that his side will be facing Pakhtakor rather than their Saudi league rivals Al Hilal, who finished top of Group A.

“I said previously that I would like to meet Pakhtakor as a game against Al Hilal would have been harder than us,” said the Romanian.

“I have been studying them and watching videos of their games so we know what to expect. We also rested some of our players for last week’s match against Sepahan so we will be well prepared for this game.”

Andone, who will be in charge for the final time before the expiry of his contract, has concerns over the fitness of Sayyaf Al Bishi and Salah Eddine Aqqal and will definitely be missing striker Saleh Bashir, who is set to undergo knee surgery.

“We will miss Saleh Bashir in the game and his absence will surely affect our attack as he is one of the key players in the team,” Andone lamented.

Pakhtakor arrived in Dammam on Tuesday with coach Victor Djalilov believing that his side must be at their best if they want to advance to the quarter-finals.

“Ettifaq are strong team and they showed good form in the group stage,” said the Pakhtakor boss.

“They won their group with one game to play and that shows that they are a strong team and they will cause some problems for us.

“The game will definitely be a hard one for us and we must be at our best if we want to win and advance.”

Pakhtakor will welcome back defender Ilhomjon Suyonov and midfielder Gulom Urunov, who were both suspended for last week’s 2-0 loss to Al Hilal in Riyadh.