Al Wakrah head coach Mauricio Larriera is predicting a close tie when his side face Al Khor in their round 17  clash at Wakrah stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking at his sides pre-match press conference the Urguyan coach said;” Both teams are in similar in terms of league position and also statistically, they are coming off the back of a strong result and will be looking to get another win.”

Despite both teams being close in the league, Larriera is confident that he can make home advantage count; “I think that we have the advantage at playing at home, and we will be looking to take advantage of this. However I think that Al Khor are really well organized and so are we, we will have to work hard in attack and take our chances.”

“A victory against a rival like Al Khor will give us confidence in the league; we will be able to look forward to our next matches with more confidence, knowing we are a little further ahead of the relegation zone.” Claimed Larriera, whose Wakrah side is in 9^th place in the QSL standings.

Talking on the aims on the second half of the season Larriera concluded. “We need to move forward as a team, and improve our players. We are also aiming to get away from the relegation zone.”
 


Al Khor’s French head coach Jean Fernandez stressed that confidence his high in his squad following their round 16 victory over title chasing El Jaish.

“The squad is in good spirits, we have prepared well but we must remember that Wakrah had a good result against Al Sadd.” Noted Fernandez at his side’s pre-match press conference on Thursday morning.

Fernandez also claimed his side was up to the challenge of getting back to back victories. “Al Wakrah are strong defensively, and a big physical side but that will not stop us in trying to get back to back wins. “

Al Khor have only made one change in the January transfer window with the addition of Korean defender Heo Jae-Won who has replaced injured compatriot Lee Yong in defense. “We decided not to make many changes in January, I have faith in my players we were really forced with the injury to Lee.” Confessed the French coach.