“It’s always great to come back to Qatar,” said Arnold. “Our preparations have been fantastic. We had a very good game against Bahrain in Abu Dhabi before the start of the Asian Cup. My expectations coming to the tournament are always to win the tournament. Nothing changes from the first game, we’ve got India in the first game and we need to be ready for that. 

“For us, I think, it’s the perfect fixture (against Bahrain)  to have before the Asian Cup,” Arnold said. “When we play against these types of nations, they sit back. Most nations we played against in the last 12 months haven’t really done that. I think they’re a strong nation that’s getting stronger, and like a lot of the West Asian sides, physically, they were quite bigger than what we expected.”

Arnold addressed his team’s squad depth leading into the tournament, having included new faces in the squad.

"Well, over the last four years, my main goal has been to win games while simultaneously building depth in the team. If you examine the six players I bought in four years ago, I likely wouldn't have had anywhere near the level of depth we have now. 

“It's a bit of a challenge as I find myself grappling with decisions about the starting lineups in the coming weeks. Having this depth is fantastic but as I mentioned it will give me a few headaches in the upcoming weeks.”

Australia, who are participating in the continental showpiece for the fourth time, will open their Group B account against India on Saturday with Syria to follow on January 18. They play Uzbekistan five days later.