Struggling Al Shahania take on Al Sailiya in the opening match of the eighteenth round of QSL action. The Oryxes are currently twelfth place in the QSL standings, and know that a win could see them jump out of the relegation zone if results go their way. Croatian head coach Igor Štimac spoke with the local media before the match. 

Opening up the press conference Štimac reflected on his sides 3-0 defeat to Al Gharafa last time out. “I’m not happy with the performance against Al Gharafa, we where expecting much from the team. Now that is in the past, we have to concentrate on the next game and what is coming up.”

“Sailiya have a few new players, it will be a difficult match they will have confidence from the last game that they won against Umm Salal. We are confident, we know a win can get us out of the danger zone” added the Croatian coach when asked about his Thursday evening opponents. 

Štimac  also revealed that his Al Shahania side will be without a key player for their match against Al Sailiya. “I am sad that professional signing Rahim Zahivi will be unable to help us, he is out for ten days to two weeks with fatigue related injury.”

The Croatian coach ended the press conference stressing that his side has nothing to loose from the position that they are in. “Before the start of the season everyone said that Al Shahania were set to go down, the position we are now in gives us a chance of survival. Now we need to fight together, and we are not going down without a fight.”

Al Sailiya come into the match against Al Shahania on a high following a narrow 1-0 win over Umm Salal. Peregrines coach Sami Trabelsi spoke to the media during the Wednesday morning pre-match press conference. 

Trabelsi opened up the press conference stating he was looking forward to the game. “It’s a good game for us, it’s the game that really matters to me. I will be looking to see how my players deal in this game, Al Shahania are a good side but we have to be prepared for them and we have to win to pull further away from the relegation zone.”

“Last season we had difficulties against teams who are fighting for survival, whilst playing well against the top sides in the league. We need to be at full concentration for Al Shahania, or they will punish us” added the Tunisian tactician. 

The Peregrines boss was also quick to reflect on his sides win last time out. “Against Umm Salal we played well, especially with the new players and we hope to continue in the same way against Al Shahania. Our target now this season is to pick up the most possible points that we can.”

Ending the press conference, Trabelsi noted that his side where still in the market for players. “We hope to get some local players in to reinforce the team. We have to be realistic on who we can bring in, but I am happy with what we got. We took a risk in playing the professional players in the last match and it came off, although we know that it won’t just be the professionals that help us it’s a team effort at Al Sailiya.”