Al Ahli coach Nebojsa Jovovic spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 17 match against Umm Salal.

“Our goal is to win against Umm Salal. We are entering a very important phase of the league. It is a very important match. Umm Salal are a difficult team characterized by great seriousness in their matches. They are organised in defence and the way they close spaces on rivals makes them one of the most difficult teams in the league.

“Not every opponent can find opportunities to score in their goal. The match represents a new challenge for our team as we are competing for points. I have prepared the players well after the team played a good match against Al Sadd, one of the best teams in Asia. Despite the loss, Al Ahli were good in counter-attacks. We just missed the final touches that could have helped us score.

“We have to work more to improve the offensive side of our play. I trust the ability of the players to provide better performance in the next match and grab the opportunities that are available. I hope that a good level against Al Sadd will motivate us to provide a better level against Umm Salal. The match is always played between 11 vs 11 players. I do not see that absence of any of our players would make a difference. I trust any player who wears the Al Ahli logo to give his best,” said Jovovic.

Al Ahli player Ali Qaderi said, “It will be a difficult match, but a very important one for us. Al Ahli are going through difficult circumstances, but the three points remain important for us. We have to be back in the top four. After our match against Al Sadd, we seeourselves mentally prepared to play a good level this week.

“It is true that the team lost against Al Sadd, but our performance was good and the players are now ready to play a good match. We look at all upcoming matches as finals and our first final will be against Umm Salal and we hope to win to boost our chances of getting back to the top four again.”