Al Duhail coach Sabri Lamouchi spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 7 match against Al Kharaitiyat.

“It is natural that I am expecting a strong reaction from the players in the wake of some absences that we suffer from and the players know that we were not at the required level against Al Gharafa.

“Absences were not the cause of that defeat even though it was the first time that defenders Ahmed Yasser and Mehdi Benatia were absent in one match together. However, we cannot say that was the reason for the defeat. We could have opened the scoring, but we committed mistakes that led to our loss.

“The pressure of matches certainly affects the level negatively. We do not have many options and we are trying to deal with this circumstance properly.

“Al Duhail will always be one of the strongest teams in the league and I came to the club under conditions of changing coaches in a short period and changing players as well. Al Duhail can be judged in the coming period after the end of the transfers where we can get back the services of our loaned-out players,” said Lamouchi.

Al Duhail goalkeeper Mohammed Al Bakri said, “The team is ready to face Al Kharaitiyat and the match is important, especially since we go into it after our loss to Al Gharafa. Everyone is keen to put that defeat behind us and we will do our best to make our fans happy.

“The match will not be easy and we know that we will face a good team, but we will enter it not only for the sake of achieving victory, but also to put up a performance befitting our name.”