Elkan Baggott’s Indonesia face a near-impossible task when they take on Thailand in the second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup at the National Stadium in Singapore this afternoon having been beaten 4-0 in the first leg on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old came on as a half-time substitute in that game, his fifth appearance of the competition, all from the bench, taking his total of full caps to six.

Coach Shin Tae-yong believes his team can at least win the second leg having felt they were affected by the size of the occasion in the first.

“I strongly believe we will win the match,” he insisted. “Looking back on the first leg, our team was nervous and swayed by the referee’s whistle, but that was understandable as they have little experience in big matches.

“Of course Thailand are a strong team and this will be a difficult match but I’m going [out] to win and I have complete faith in my team to do so.”

Baggott, who scored his first international goal in the 4-1 victory over Malaysia in the group games, is reported to have caught the eye of Japanese side FC Tokyo among other Asian clubs during the tournament, however, a move away from Town would appear highly unlikely at this stage of his career.

The centre-half, who was was born in Thailand to an English father and Indonesian mother, signed his first professional contract with Town in January 2021, a deal which runs to 2023 with the club having an option to keep him for a further season.

Baggott, who ended last season on loan at King’s Lynn, made his senior Blues debut in the Papa John’s Trophy tie against Gillingham in 2020/21 and later in that campaign was an unused sub for the League One games against Sunderland and Crewe.

Photo: Matchday Images

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