Umm Salal coach Aziz Ben Askar spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 10 match against Al Sailiya.

“It will be a difficult match because we will face tough opponents who have a coach who has been doing a good job since he took over the team a few years ago. This match will bring two teams who play exciting football together. We, as usual, will prepare ourselves for, what I say always, a new competitor, a new story and a new match. We need to prepare for the match well and we have to play as we used to.

“It is always good to get positive results, but it was just a draw (in the last match). Our goal was to win and if you want to be strong, you have to think about winning matches but sometimes you cannot. As for me, I always deal with players in a positive way, whether we win or lose. Now I expect a lot from them in this match and I told them the same.

“The players are required to continue working hard to have confidence in themselves and they should respect all competitors and do not believe that the opponent is stronger than them, At the same time, they should not think that the match will be easy. This is the truth of football. What is always required is that we focus on ourselves and prepare strongly for the matches. I hope the players will do the work I expect of them,” said Ben Askar.

Umm Salal player Lawrence Quaye said, “Looking at the last three matches of the team, we find that we presented a good level against Al Sadd and lost by a margin of 1-3. I am sure that we will continue to develop in this way. I am also sure Al Sailiya will be well prepared for this match because though they lost their last match, we must not forget that they had beaten Al Duhail, who are considered a very good team. Therefore, we must maintain calm and provide our best.”