Al Duhail coach Luis Castro spoke to the media ahead of their 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League Week 7 match against Al Shamal.

“Look, this is a very important match for us. It comes after an unexpected loss that affected us psychologically, but I take responsibility for the loss. We are going through a very difficult work stage that focuses on the mental aspect. When you win five consecutive matches and then lose by four goals, it can have an impact on the players. We must be on top of readiness against Al Shamal.

“It was a bad result for us and I promise our fans that the team will not lose in such a fashion in the upcoming matches. Hence for our next match, we must be ready for all challenges against Al Shamal.

“We learned from the mistakes that occurred in the Al Wakrah match. Since I arrived at Al Duhail, I know that this club is one of the best sides in the country. I have principles that I work with - the first of which is honesty and working hard with the players. Until the final whistle is blown, we must deal with matters in a transparent manner. I take the blame - and not the players – if things go bad.

“I continue to work with the players to prepare them physically and mentally to participate in the upcoming matches against Al Shamal, Qatar SC and Al Sadd - and whichever player is ready, he will certainly feature in these matches,” said Castro.

Al Duhail player Toby Alderweireld said, “One of the reasons we lost to Al Wakrah is because of the space we allowed them. We wanted to attack and that caused gaps at the rear.

“We lost in the previous match but now we have a chance to return to winning ways and get a good result again. We will do our best to beat Al Shamal. We risked a lot offensively in the previous match in order to score goals, that created the spaces for the Al Wakrah team to counter our slackness. Al Wakrah players took advantage of our mistakes and succeeded in scoring. It is still a long way to go. We are now facing a new match – our fans can rest assured that we will work hard.”