Al Khor take on relegation rivals Al Shahania, knowing that a victory will relegate their rival. Knights boss Jean Fernandez revealed his thoughts to the local media ahead of the game. 

Fernandez opened up the press conference stressing the importance of this relegation battle for his side.“It’s a six pointer match against Al Shahanaia we have confidence from the important victory over Al Wakrah. We respect Al Shahania and their coach they played very well against Al Arabi”

“It’s a decisive match, whoever wins will be happy, whoever will loose will be disappointed that is football. Right now our aim is to win the game” added the French coach.  

The veteran coach ended the press conference insisting that his side are in the right frame of mind ahead of the big match on Friday evening. “We have good motivation to do well, if we win we will pull away from the relegation. That said Al Shahania are a tough team. We are prepared to win and I am thinking only positive things from the match. 

As for Al Shahania, they come into the match against Al Khor in good spirits following a resounding win against Al Arabi last time out. Only a victory is good enough for the Oryxes to avoid the drop to the second division.  Head coach Igor Štimac spoke to the local media ahead of the game. 

Štimac opened the press conference with a word on his Friday evening opponents. “As I promised we are still alive in the league, we are very confident and positive at training. Al Khor is a disciplined team, a serious side with good individuals. We have a solution to keep these individuals quiet and if we repeat what we did against Al Arabi, I am confident we can get the result we need.”

“Rahim should be fit for this game, we have other options if he is unavailable. We have a fully fit squad with plenty of options. It’s not one individual who makes Al Shahania, it’s our team work” added the Croatian coach when asked about the fitness of Iranian striker Rahim Zahivi.   

The press conference came to an end with Štimac  talking up the quality of his side.“Al Arabi wasn't our best game technically however in terms of the result yes.We have played better in other games. We have shown plenty of character on the pitch this season and I think we have shown we can give any side in Qatar a match on our day.”