Umm Salal coach Aziz Ben Askar spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 14 match against Al Wakrah.

“Our victory over Al Khor last week can be considered as a good thing. Now we will face Al Wakrah in the 14th round of the league. This is another story and a different match. It will be a difficult match because we will face a team coming from a great loss last week against Al Duhail. Therefore, I and the players realize that it will be a strong match and will be the most difficult, but the most important thing for ourselves is good preparation and that the team should feel ready for the match.

“We always suffer from pressure and that mindset could be used as a catalyst because we do not want to go down to the Second Division. I feel the idea of football in general is high pressure. I like to work under pressure and I told the players that they need to play under pressure in order to perform well, which gives you motivation to achieve positive results.

“As usual, we focus on ourselves and our work to develop the team that is improving now. The players now know very well what I want from them and I always want more seriousness and more work. The most important thing for me is to have strong players who want to make a difference,” said Ben Askar.

Umm Salal player Ahmed Hammoudan said, “As for the next match, it is important for us. We will make every effort to achieve victory. So far, I have not reached my best technical level, especially since I came to the team a short while ago, but with regular training and matches, I will reach the required level. It will be difficult for the two teams, especially since each of them aspires to advance to a better position and therefore the winner of this match’s outcome will be happy.”