Al Gharafa head into their match with Al Wakrah off the back of a 3-0 defeat to title chasing Al Sadd last time out. The cheetahs will be aiming to get back to winning ways when they take on Al Wakrah, head coach Pedro Caixinia spoke to the media ahead of the game. 

The Portuguese coach opened up the press conference stating that his side was ready for the challenge of the bottom side in the QSL “It’s an important match, the team has trained well this week the players are looking good and are ready for the challenge of playing Al Wakrah.”

Caixinia also addressed Al Gharafa’s top four ambitions.“If you look back at the last six seasons, we are in the best position we have been in for years. We need to be proud of where we are right now. We are fifth currently in the league. We are only two points away from El Jaish in my mind, because we still have to play them and that is the mentality that we are trying to implement for Al Gharafa.”

“Al Wakrah is struggling and they are in trouble but all I can say is that my team are ready, we are looking forward to winning and getting three points again” added Caixina when asked about his opponents on Saturday evening. 
 

Al Wakrah are rooted to the bottom of the QSL standings following their 3-1 defeat to relegation rivals Muaither. Blue Waves coach Kais Yâakoubi spoke to the media ahead of their match against Al Gharafa. 

Yâakoubi  opened up the press conference stating that his side still has time to beat the drop. “We still have games to play to get ourselves out of trouble. Al Gharafa are challenging for the top four, we have the motivation to get the points off Al Gharafa to make sure that we survive.”

“Al Gharafa lost the last game against Al Sadd, and they perhaps will not be at their most confident going into the game. We will be looking to take full advantage of this situation” noted the Tunisian tactician. 

Wakrah will be without several key players for the match, and Yâakoubi noted it’s all about player confidence heading into the match against Al Gharafa. “We try to find players in my squad who can do a job for me. They need confidence right now during this period they need to be positive. I hope that my side can do their best in this difficult match against Al Gharafa”

The Al Wakrah boss ended his press conference calling for his side to fight for every point on offer from their remaining games. “We still have twenty four points to play for, and already people are saying that we are relegated. They don’t know the spirit that my side posses. We have played well against top sides, and we underestimate the sides around us, we need to address this quickly if we are to survive.”