Al Khor take on third placed El Jaish on Friday afternoon at Al Khor stadium. The Knights head into the tie after a moral boosting 3-1 win over Al Sailiya, and will be targeting back to back wins against title chasing El Jaish. Al Khor’s french tactitian Jean Fernandez spoke to the media ahead of the clash. 

Opening up the press conference, Fernandez stressed that his side are under no illusion about the task they face.  “We are facing a title challenger in El Jaish, a strong side with good players. They have a coach in Sabri Lamouchi who is one of the best in the league, it will be a real challenge for us. 

“Our last match against Al Sailiya was a good result for us, we hope we can build on this and put in a good performance against El Jaish” added the French tactitian when reflecting on his sides 3-1 win over Al Sailiya last time out. 

Al Khor are currently out of the QSL relegation zone, and coach Fernandez belives that his sides shaky form that saw his side briefly drop into the relegation places is over. “We had a difficult period earlier in the season losing five games, but we have come out of that period well with important results against Al Rayyan and Al Shahania. The win against Al Sailiya will give us the confidence to progress this season.”

Ending his press conference, Fernandez called for a repeat of his sides performance against Al Rayyan, when taking on El Jaish on Friday. “Yes, there is no difference between Al Rayyan and El Jaish in the league. I believe that if we play in the same style and spirit that we did against Rayyan, I am sure we can get a favourable result.” 

Whilst for El Jaish, they ran out 4-3 winners against Al Arabi to maintain their grip on third place in the league. French tactician Sabri Lamouchi spoke with the local media ahead of the tie. 

Opening up the press conference, Lamouchi noted that his side will be tested against the side from the north of Qatar. “It’s always difficult to play Al Khor, they are well organized and we will be expecting a tough challenge. I will be putting out the best team out from what I have to get the best possible result.” 

“We took three points, but we conceded three goals and we will be without four players for this match, so for me the win against Al Arabi is not a fantastic result. That said I am very proud of my players and the spirit they showed, they gave me so much in this game” noted Lamouchi when asked about his sides helter-skelter 4-3 win over Al Arabi. 

Lamouchi ended the press conference stating that he will only be focuing on the preformance of his side. “I won’t be looking for the result between Al Sadd and Lekhwiya, right now we are behind both of them in the league. Our only goal from this match against Al Khor is the three points and try to catch up with them, one result at a time.”