Al Rayyan coach Laurent Blanc spoke to the media ahead of their 2020-21 season QNB Stars League Week 13 match against Al Gharafa.

“In Al Gharafa, we will face a strong team. They are a side that competes for the league title, they have good players. From our side, Al Rayyan have to do a great job of creating chances and scoring goals. We have to keep doing this until we come out with a positive result.

“I see that this clash is a little complicated. Our team is always looking for victory and currently we need rapid development of sorts. I hope to sign new players to support the team.

“We have three injured players and there is no possibility to change some players in some positions as we lack solutions. In the previous match against Al Sailiya, the team showed a strong defensive performance, especially after the opponents scored the first goal as a result of our mistake. Their second goal came from a penalty kick. That complicated matters and made it difficult for us to score three goals to win.

“I saw that some players lacked focus and did not have the ability to control the game,” said Blanc.

Al Rayyan player Mohammed Alaeldin said, “It will be a difficult match for the two teams but I think it will be fun for the fans. I hope the result will come out in our favour. We are going through a difficult phase. I hope we will overcome this situation with the new coach and make use of his great experience. I expect us to make a quick comeback. Al Gharafa are special opponents and the players are ready for it.”