With four ASEAN Championship titles to their names, Singapore sit only behind six-time champions Thailand in the honour roll of Southeast Asia's premier international tournament.
Since their last triumph in 2012, they have however only once made it out of the group stage in six campaigns.
It is unenviable record they will be looking to rectify over the next month with the 2024 edition kicking off on Sunday.
On paper, they remain behind Thailand and traditional rivals Malaysia in the Group A pecking order -- with Cambodia and Timor-Leste the other teams they will be up against.
Nonetheless, the fact that this year's ASEAN Championship is shaping up as an unpredictable one given several teams are missing a whole host of key players could pave the way for surprises on the horizon.
With several domestic leagues continuing to operate through December after moving away from a calendar-year format, the fact that the ASEAN Championship is not taking place in an official FIFA international window means clubs are not obligated to release their players although compromises have obviously had to be reached.
It means that reigning champions Thailand are glaringly missing several individuals who have been key figures in their numerous success over the past decade, including captain and playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin, 64-goal veteran Teerasil Dangda and Theerathon Bunmathan, who was the Most Valuable Player last time out.
Likewise, Malaysia's squad is without any senior players of Johor Darul Ta'zim, who have won the past ten Super League titles and is undeniably the dominant force in the country by a fair margin.
Seven players called up are yet to make their international bow, with 15 having five caps or less to their names.
Singapore are not without its own absentees. Their entire overseas-based contingent have been ruled out, while midfield dynamo Song Ui-Young on Thursday revealed he asked not to be considered for personal reasons.
But with the Singapore Premier League deliberately on hiatus, the Lions' prospects will at least be boosted by having a full complement of domestic players to pick from -- a clear advantage over Thailand and Malaysia.
It could certainly bring them closer to being on par with the Thais, and they might now even fancy their chances of bettering Malaysia -- although that latter meeting will be the ever-daunting task of an away trip to Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
And if the lack of several regular stars does really prove to level the playing field, that could even bring full-strength Cambodia and Timor-Leste outfits into the picture -- although they do remain further behind the other three in terms of overall quality at the moment.
Having spent years in the doldrums, Singapore most recently turned to Tsutomu Ogura as the man to revive their fortunes back in February.
There are other milestones to achieve on their path forward but returning to the semifinals of the ASEAN Championship would make for a good start.
Things may just be falling in place for Singapore to grab a top-two berth in Group A, either at the expense of Thailand or Malaysia.