Qatar Stars League (QSL) outfit Al Arabi are pinning hopes on the second phase to relaunch their push for wins that could take the side back into the top four, coach Gianfranco Zola said.
 
Al Arabi, who visit Al Khor on Saturday, are placed fifth behind Al Rayyan, El Jaish, Lekhwiya and Al Sadd on the QSL points table.
 
"This league is very similar to the Championship in England. The first part of the league is important but it doesn't tell you anything,"
Zola said on Thursday.
 
"We will see another tournament in the second half of the league and we hope to do well," he added.
 
The Italian admitted defeats in the last two games could have been avoided.
 
"We had two games that were good games for us but we didn't take any points from them. We deserved more," Zola said.
 
"But we were also missing important players. When everybody is playing, we become competitive otherwise our level drops. Now are approaching another delicate game. We still have some physical issues.
 
"But I am confident that we will play our style. Players will play with the mentality and physicality that we have shown before," Zola said.
 
Zola said the team welcomed the 10-day break ahead of the January 2,2016 clash.
 
"It's not frustrating. It's a welcome break," Zola said.
 
"In December we played too many games in a small period. And players in this league are not ready to play so many games together. That's why us and also other teams had so many injuries," he explained.
 
"This year the competition between the teams is also higher than before. But the players are getting used to it now. This break will give us the possibility to organise the team. We also have the transfer window and we can look at getting in more players. After the beak we will start again," he said.
 
"We made many mistakes in the last couple of games. But we are ready to overcome them and move forward," Zola said..


 
Al Khor coach Jean Fernandez said his team needs a win to kill relegation fears.
 
"We will play before the break and all teams will try and finish with a win. We have to be careful because we are playing a team who are coming after two defeats," Fernandez said on Thursday.
 
"We are looking to go into the break on a winning note. We know that Al Arabi is better than us. They won against us in the first part of the leg. So we will have to be our best to take the three points from this match," he said.
 
Al Khor are placed 12th with 13 points.
 
"We worked well during this short break because we were coming from two positive results. That gave us confidence and now we have to confirm our work during this break," Fernandez said.
 
"We will have no absences for this match."
 
"It's the negative point that we have. We play well but in the end we didn't have the success to help us take points. At this moment, points are more important than performance. So we are looking to get more points, get away from the relegation zone and retain our position in the QSL," Fernandez said.
 
The game at Al Khor Stadium on Saturday starts at 16:15.