Al Arabi coach Heimir Hallgrimsson spoke to the media ahead of their 2019-20 QNB Stars League Week 14 match against Umm Salal.

“We are ready to face Umm Salal and our target for this match is three points. The preparations for this game have been normal. We are continuing the work that we started since the beginning of the season through strong preparations. We have a difficult game against an opponent that did not start well, but they have improved now and beat Al Khor in the last round.

“We must win all points of this match because this will have a significant impact on the team’s final ranking. We will try to achieve this target. In the last game against Al Duhail, we deserved at least a draw.

“The winning mentality was not present for several years, especially when we played against some teams. There was a kind of panic. It takes time to change this mentality of players and develop a winning mentality. It will not happen overnight. I started working in that direction ever since I took charge of Al Arabi. I am happy that everyone supports us in order to create a team that will compete for titles in the future.

“I may not be with Al Arabi always, but I will be happy that I started this process. I follow the club’s age-group players to choose them for the first team. At least their presence in training is important.

“Defeats affect the coach of course, but after any defeat we must start preparing for the next match. We must be realistic that we are having a strong project for the future. We hope to succeed in the upcoming match against Umm Salal,” said Hallgrimsson.