Umm Salal coach Partrice Carteron spoke to the media ahead of their 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League Week 8 match against Al Khor.

“The difficulty of the match lies in the importance of his team getting points at this stage. It is important for us to return to the path of victories despite the difficulty and strength of the competitor.

“Umm Salal were not at their best in the last match against Al Gharafa, as we gave a performance but did not achieve the desired result. However, the type of matches that we lose remain a lesson that the team must learn from, and correct our mistakes and not repeat them.

“We are sad about the loss to Al Gharafa and it was possible to achieve a draw, but the competitor was able to take advantage of their opportunities to score and win the points of the match.

“We worked on preparing the team and correcting the mistakes in order to win and continue to achieve the best results. We have closed the page of the last match that the team lost and opened a new page to prepare for the match against Al Khor and win over it.

“Al Khor are a strong team and the match represents a final match for us, and we must win and return to the path of victories. The team must enter the match with high focus, tactical discipline and make an effort in order to achieve victory.

“Currently, we are in seventh place and we must do our best to return to the top places, and this requires making an effort, focusing, exploiting opportunities and offering the best,” said Carteron.

Umm Salal player Adel Alawi said, “I have confidence in my team’s ability to return to the path of victories. Umm Salal are able to present a strong match and achieve a positive result.

“We have full respect for the Al Khor team, but in football, the focus must be on implementing what the coach demands on the field in order to please our fans with a positive result.

“The loss to Al Gharafa in the last round does not put any pressure on us, but rather gives us a boost to regain victories, and we will have a strong determination to cross Al Khor and win the three points.”