Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuwaiti double winners Al Qadsia and Tajikistan champions Ravshan will be looking to get their AFC Cup campaigns back on track in the second round of matches in Group D on Wednesday.
Both sides suffered identical 1-0 losses to Al Shorta and Al Ramtha respectively and will be looking to make amends when they swap opponents tomorrow.
Al Qadsia have not had the best build up to the match having lost 2-1 to Al Nasr in a Kuwait League match on Saturday and coach Mohammad Ebrahim said the team could not train properly since arriving in Amman on Sunday.
However, remained confident his players were ready for the match.
“We are looking forward to make a good comeback after the first defeat against Al Shorta and hopefully we can do this against Al Ramtha,” said Ebrahim, who admitted it would be against a side enjoying a good run in form both domestically and in the AFC Cup.
Defender Mohammad Rashed will miss the game through injury but Mesaed Nada will make a return to the team after missing the previous match through suspension. Goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi will also return to the team after missing the previous match due to injury.
Al Ramtha coach Belal Al Laham believes it will be a tough match but claims to have identified a chink in Al Qadsia’s armour.“We have studied Al Qadsia well and we know their weaknesses which we hope that our players will take advantage of,” he said.
“We will try our best to take advantage of playing at home and in front of our fans which also means that there will be pressure on us to get a good result and continue the good run that we started in the competition.”
Defender Suliman Al Slman returns to the Al Ramtha side having recovered from a recent injury but there is no such luck for Ravshan, who will face Syrian champions Al Shorta.
Ravshan coach Garatali Mirahmadov said concentration and caution would be the keys to his side getting a positive result.
“We will go into the game against Al Shorta with full concentration,” he said. “We have some injuries in our squad and this will eventually force us to play with a cautious approach in order to get a positive result.
“After the defeat against Al Ramtha at home, we must get a positive result even if it was just a point from this away match.”