Al Duhail coach Hernan Crespo spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 5 match against Al Markhiya.

“We have begun preparing for the match and are still missing the efforts of a number of players due to injury, but all those who are fit are preparing for the Al Markhiya match in order to achieve victory.

“We will take the field with our full concentration to be back winning, which we missed in our last three matches after we tied against Al Arabi at the last gasp, and we lost our match against Al Gharafa also in the dying moments of the match, and we also came out with a draw against Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League. Our focus is on the recovery of players and despite our difficulties, everyone’s thinking about the necessity of getting back to the winning path.

“Despite the pressure of the matches, we are preparing step by step, and now we are thinking about our next match, and after that we will begin preparing for our match in the AFC Champions League. We do not have many options as the team is missing the efforts of (Karim) Boudiaf, Luiz Martin, (Philippe) Coutinho, (Ruben) Semedo and (Ibrahima) Diallo. What is happening to us now is similar to what happened to us last season, but the situation now is more difficult,” said Crespo.

Al Duhail goalkeeper Shehab Ellethi said, “We are ready for the Al Markhiya match and we know that it will not be easy and we know that we will face a team that will enter the field looking for their first victory. But my teammates are working to achieve it.

“Al Duhail are a big team that loves to compete in all tournaments and we always play to achieve victory. Our stumble against Al Gharafa will make us study the mistakes, correct them and work to avoid them in the upcoming matches.

“We still have the character of champions and are capable of achieving victories despite the absences that we suffer and that have kept a large number of our players away from participating. But those fit have the desire and determination to overcome these difficulties.”