Al Gharafa coach Slavisa Jokanovic spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 15 match against Al Kharaitiyat.

“We are required to do our best to win against Al Kharaitiyat. All matches are important to us and we seek to bag full points. Now, the team is required to show its capabilities and high concentration in order to achieve victory over Al Kharaitiyat. Our efforts must be for victory.

“We deal with every match one step at a time. That is a good way of playing in the league. We are not satisfied with training in a good manner, but we must work hard to achieve our goals. Al Kharaitiyat are at the bottom of the standings and they have changed the coach in search of solutions, so they improve their situation. From our side, we are also busy looking for solutions to bring the team back to the path of good results.

“We are now going through a period that is the most difficult in terms of results since my arrival. Half of the season is gone and we miss almost 10 players for various reasons in addition to the transfer of some players to other clubs on loan. In terms of player options, we have limited choices. The team has to play important events like the Amir Cup and AFC Champions League. Therefore, the solution before us is to try to improve the team's performance and raise the level of focus so that the team is ready.

“Last season, we lost against Al Shahania and that shows that we have to fight on the field until we achieve victory. In theory, Al Gharafa are better than Al Kharaitiyat, but we are required to confirm this on the pitch,” said Jokanovic.

Al Gharafa player Tamim Al Muhaza said, “Our preparations ahead of Al Kharaitiyat match have been like how we prepare for any match. We hope to win so that we can ensure that we are in third place. Al Kharaitiyat are a good team and although they are the last in the table, we hope that we are ready for any surprises from them.

“It is necessary to mention the great presence of our fans in the last five matches and we hope that our fans will attend the Al Kharaitiyat match because they are a motivation for us and we will strive to make them happy by winning the three points.”