Al Gharafa take on Al Khor in the last round of the QSL. The match will be held at the Al Ahli Stadium on Friday evening.
 
Al Gharafa are reeling from a shock 3-1 defeat against Qatar SC last week and they will hope to end the season in a positive fashion with a win against Al Khor. The Cheetah’s currently sit eighth in the QSL standings with thirty-four points.
 
Pedro Caixinha, the head coach of Al Gharafa wants his team to bounce back from the disappointing result in their last game, “This for us is an important match. First of all because we lost the last match and we want to have a strong reaction in order to finish the league in the best position and I want the players to be committed and responsible.”
 
Abdulaziz Ali will be replaced by Yousef Hassan in the Gharafa goal. “We are changing the keeper because he has some different characteristics and one of them is that he can play with his foot and we are team that like to build from the back,” added the Portuguese tactician.
 
“We identified a pattern in our team we had a great result against Al Rayyan but we need regularity. We win one game against a big team and then we lose to another who is struggling. So I think in football is all about regularity of results and performance,” said Caixinha at a press conference on Thursday morning.
 
Despite a disappointing last game Al Gharafa’s boss believes that there are some important lessons to be learnt, “Sometimes I’m sad that I lost the match but at the same time I’m happy that we lost as it makes us realize our mistakes.”


 
Al Khor has secured their stay in the QSL for next season as they are tenth in the standings with thirty points.
 
Jean Fernandez, the head coach of Al Khor is wary of the threat his opponents poses, “It’s going to be a tough game against Al Gharafa. They lost their previous match but they did well in the one before that and we need to prepare well for this match. We expect a strong reaction from Gharafa. They aim to finish the season in a good position we also aim for the same.”
 
Al Gharafa’s new acquisitions have also received praise from Fernandez, “They are a good team and they have brilliant players like Krizstian Nemeth and Tamer Jamal and Vladimir Wiess.”
 
“We need to end on a high position and next we need to prepare for the emir cup.We came through several difficulties throughout the season but we learned from them and I assure you that the team is better than before,” added the Frenchman
 
Speaking about his ambitions for next season Fernandez added, “We have same players for several seasons and now we probably in need to sign new players to improve the quality of the team.”