Al Markhiya coach Abdullah Mubarak spoke to the media ahead of their 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League Week 7 match against Al Gharafa.

“Al Gharafa are a strong team having young and experienced players, such as Yacine Brahimi who has high capabilities and who makes the difference in most of his team’s matches. But it is normal, as technical staff, that we do not look at the opposing team as much as we look at ourselves and how to prepare physically, technically and tactically, and mentally to become more focused and apply the technical requirements during the match.

“We did not find the ideal opportunity to prepare the team due to a lack of time, but the team is in good spirits and has great confidence after the draw with Al Wakrah, who are one of the best teams in the league. The victory over Al Rayyan in the last round has boosted our confidence. The team played a great match and we will work to be on the path of victories.

“We were able to deal with Al Wakrah technically well in defence, middle and attack. The same we could do against Al Rayyan and we have the appropriate tactic with which we will face Al Gharafa,” said Abdullah Mubarak.

Al Markhiya player Nour Rahman said, “Our preparations are going on well under the supervision of the technical staff and we, as players, are going through a good phase, with high morale and great determination to achieve more victories.

“Our match against Al Gharafa will not be easy like all the matches that we consider difficult. Relatively, we face a better team than Al Rayyan by virtue of position in the table and we will work with all our abilities to achieve victory and move forward on the path of victories. God willing, we will be successful.”