Al Gharafa coach Slavisa Jokanovic spoke to the media ahead of the QNB Stars League Week 12 match against Qatar SC.

“It will be a difficult game because we will face a competitor who is going through the best period in the past few weeks. They had achieved five consecutive victories in addition to a draw in the last match against Al Sadd.

“It seems clear that their players are making a lot of efforts. The players are working hard. Their team is characterized by cohesion and they have two distinguished players in attack. This is in addition to good overall organization.

“That's why I say we are facing a difficult team. This will be a different team than what we faced at the beginning of the season. We have to be at our best to win this one.

“We respect the Qatar SC team, but it is important that we respect our capabilities and press hard. We are in a league competition with 12 teams, which make all points important. It will be difficult to make up for any losses while we are in a period with a large number of matches, which I consider a positive thing for the players,” said Jokanovic.

Al Gharafa goalkeeper Yousef Hassan said, “It will be an important match between the second and fourth-placed teams. Qatar SC are presenting distinguished levels during of late and everybody knows they had won the last five matches and then drew with Al Sadd, which proves that the team has good talent. For us, we drew in the last game, so we don't want to waste more points.

“What will make things difficult for us is that Qatar SC have tactical discipline, and their players are characterized by good team spirit. I hope that we will see our fans, especially as we are presenting good standards.”