Lekhwiya will be aiming to put pressure on their table topping rivals El Jaish when they take on Al Kharaitiyat in the opening game of Monday’s QSL action. Head coach Djamel Belmadi spoke to the media ahead of the tie. 

 

Opening up the press conference Lekhwiya head coach Djamel Belmadi was targeting more points in their race for the QSL falcon shield come the end of the season. “After the good performance against El Jaish, we want to look forward to win the game and get the three points. This year we have many teams fighting for the first place, and the standings are tight so we cannot slip up against an Al Kharaitiyat and loose points.”

 

The Algerian tactician also went on to stress that his side must preform against sides lower in the league, despite their headline grabbing win over El Jaish last time out. “Week in week out we have seen how teams in relegation trouble can cause issues for the bigger sides in the league. Lekhwiya has to show the right mentality and attitude against Al Kharaitiyat in order to win.” 

 

Belmadi was also eager to talk up youth prospect Moaz Ali who made the difference against Jaish. “Moaz came on and scored the winning goal, last season we struggled with our squad. This year i have a better and bigger and squad, every game I have young players on the bench, which is important to develop the club.”

 

“As the season progresses I will need everybody, especially when we are fighting in many different competitions” added Belmadi, when asked about the difference in his squad over the last two season. 

 

 

As for Al Kharaitiyat, they are rock bottom of the QSL standings, and will be aiming to upset a Lekhwiya side who have made a typically solid start to the season. Tunisian head coach Ahmad Al-Ajlani gave his thoughts to the media at the Sunday morning press conference. 

 

Opening up the press conference, Al-Ajlani noted that his side will need some luck on their side in order to get a result. “There is no game in football that can be lost without being played. Lekhwiya will be the favourites, but at the end of the day we will be playing eleven against eleven. We will need luck on our side to get this win.”

 

The Tunisian coach also revealed his sides approach going into the game. “Each coach is looking for a balance between defence and attack. We have to play with discipline against Lekhwiya. We have to take care and be at full focus throughout the tie.” 

 

“We have to be realistic in the position we are in right now, when we play the bigger teams we must display a composed preformance” added Al-Ajlani

 

Al Kharaityat are currently bottom of the standings, and Al-Ajlani lamented his sides luck. “We have missed some luck in our recent games, last time we had chances to win but we didn’t finish them. This has to change unless we have to progress up the table.”

 

Al-Ajlani  ended the press conference revealing that his side will be handed a boost We will always suffer when we have players missing. Domingos will return for this game and this will be a boost for us defensively.