Al Markhiya coach Madjid Bougherra spoke to the media ahead of their Play-Off against Al Shahania.

“We go into this match as we did in all the last rounds of the league, as a major final in which we must give everything in order to win.

“Al Shahania had a good season and finished second in the Second Division, so we respect them and will deal with them with caution. We will do the impossible and do our best to stay in the league.

“The Play-Off match has a special character and in such matches anything can happen, so the team must be extremely focused.

“We should only care about the match and not think about previous statistics or numbers, even if they are in the interest of our team, because in football everything is possible.

“Thank God, we came back strongly during the last rounds and I am very happy and proud of the club, the players and everyone. We saw improvement at both the defensive and offensive levels. We conceded fewer goals compared to the first leg of the league, and we also scored more goals,” said Bougherra.

Al Markhiya player Ddriss Fettouhi said, “The team is extremely focused on facing Al Shahania in order to continue the strong performances it showed in the last rounds of the league.

“All players realize the difficulty of the match and the responsibility on their shoulders, but they are looking forward to ending the season well and staying in the league.

“The different face that the team showed in the last rounds is the real face and what has been achieved so far is the result of long and hard work.

“We needed more time for the harmony and co-ordination that began to emerge, and the atmosphere now is positive within the team and represents a real motivation, and the team will not feel comfortable before its efforts are crowned by a berth in the league next season.”