Gamba Osaka boss Akira Nishino is not expecting another easy win when his in-form team travels to China to face Dalian Shide for Wednesday's clash in Group E of the AFC Champions League.

The reigning J.League champion moved to the top of the current domestic standings at the weekend with a 1-0 win over FC Tokyo that, coupled with Urawa Reds' loss to Shimizu S-Pulse.

That came less than two weeks after Gamba jumped to the head of Group E in the AFC Champions League with a comfortable 3-0 win over Dalian in Japan on April 12, but Nishino takes nothing for granted in the return fixture.

"It is different when you play away from home," said the 51-year-old Nishino.

"We should think that our opponent will be a different side to the one we played at our Expo '70 Stadium.

"I suppose we will be under various pressures once we step off the aeroplane and we won't be able to play with our usual pace. But we don't have to be too nervous. We will do whatever we can. That's what I've told the players," he added.

Nishino, whose only injury concerns are Takahiro Futagawa and Tomokazu Myojin, is expecting Dalian to go flat out for the win from the whistle.

"Our opponents will probably attack hard and we will then be forced to defend longer (than usual)," he said. "But we've had that kind of game in the last few games (in the J. League)."

Dalian, meanwhile, goes into Wednesday's game off the back of a surprise 3-2 defeat in the Chinese Super League at the hands of struggling Shenyang Jinde on Sunday.

The Chinese champion conceded two goals in the last three minutes to fall to its second league loss of the season with coach Vladimir Petrovic blaming tiredness for his team's troubles.

"In the last few minutes, my players seemed to run out of stamina," said the Serb coach.

"That's understandable. What's worse, they didn't concentrate on the match in the final stages and we paid a big price. But it should be a lesson for us."

Petrovic fielded a weakened team against Shenyang, keeping ace striker Zou Jie and midfielder Zhao Xuri on the bench throughout the 90 minutes and Dalian will be back to full strength for the visit of Gamba on Wednesday.

"Wednesday's game is of vital importance to us," said Shide's captain Ji Mingyi. "We all know how important it is and we will fight until the last ounce of our strength to win at home."

Source: Xinhua