Al Gharafa coach Slavisa Jokanovic spoke to the media ahead of their 2019-20 QNB Stars League Week 20 match against Al Khor.

“We are facing opponents who are struggling to avoid relegation to the Second Division. We will strive to achieve victory and gain points, and also to provide a better level.

“All matches at this stage are crucial and we have set our goal after the resumption of league, which is to collect maximum number of points. Al Gharafa are in fourth place, but looking at the table, we find that there is a difference (seven points) between us and Al Sadd. It’s difficult to bridge.

“On the other hand, we have a six-point advantage over two teams who are just behind us, which means that they can join us in the ranking mathematically, with nine points on offer totally for all teams. Therefore, winning over Al Khor will be an important step towards achieving our goal.

“About the loss to Al Duhail, you are always required to think about what is to come and work to improve performance at the physical, tactical and psychological levels ahead of the next match. We know that we can provide a better level than what we presented in the previous match and we will strive to be more competitive against Al Khor in order to win.

Al Gharafa player Mostafa Essam said, “We are ready to face Al Khor. We know the importance of these points very well as we are keen to finish in the top four.

“The Al Duhail match has become a thing of the past and we are now thinking about the remaining matches and their points, starting with the Al Khor game.”