Umm Salal coach Aziz Ben Askar spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 9 match against Al Rayyan.

“We have been training hard since we won against Al Khairaitiyat. That gave us the confidence for the next match. We will be playing against a strong side that demands a lot of respect. Al Rayyan are a team that can dominate and they showed that last season also. It is a team with good players, so it will be a strong match.

“I do not want to say that winning a match is an easy thing, but it is more difficult to win two, three or four games in a row. I expect my players to continue working more seriously because every match has its own importance. Every competitor is different from the other and every match is a different story. We will see what happens in the next match that we are preparing strongly for.

“Sometimes people talk about an offensive team or a defensive team and those who know football know that every coach has players for different roles. Each player has his own characteristics and advantages, and the coach has to bring the best out of the players,” said Ben Askar.

Umm Salal player Kayke said, “It will be a strong match as usual, and as everyone knows Al Rayyan have 12 points and we have seven. This match is a great opportunity for us to get close to them. We are looking forward to something bigger this season. For me, it is something related to trust (among team-mates) and this is what we do. I trust my team-mates in difficult matches. I am excited to play against Al Rayyan and I hope that we will play a good match and get points.”