Al Wakrah coach Marquez Lopez spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 21 match against Al Gharafa.

Week 21 matches have been scheduled for 6th April, but this game was rescheduled in view of Al Gharafa’s play-off with Uzbekistan’s FC AGMK in Doha on 7th April, 2021, for a berth in the 2021 AFC Champions League group stage.

“Our players have an excellent mentality and they work hard and diligently to continue the series of positive results in the remaining league matches. And we hope to beat Al Gharafa.

“We did not get enough rest before this game, but we spared no effort in order to prepare in the best possible way so that the series of positive results could continue. Now that the players have recovered from injuries and new players have been recruited, the team is in a different condition.

“We want to beat Al Gharafa. After that, there is a break and we hope that the team gets the same number of points we got last season. In general, we are close to achieving our goal of survival in the top flight, but if the players think that the team is guaranteed to stay, then that will not be good for us. It should be ‘we are doing well, there are three matches left and we want to get the most points possible’,” said Marquez.

Al Wakrah player Saleh Al Yahri said, “We want to reap the three points from this important match against Al Gharafa in order to completely stay way from the relegation zone.

“Implementing instructions of the technical staff is very important in achieving our goal and all players have great determination to continue the positive results.

“Al Gharafa are a good team, but all teams have weaknesses. We will try to take advantage of their weaknesses.”