A file picture of the Al Sadd players celebrating a goal during the QNB Stars League match.
Doha: Al Kharaitiyat is aiming to move away from the relegation zone and force their way up on the QNB Stars League (QSL) standings.
The best way for the struggling side – languishing at the 11th position with just nine points is to pocket wins in the upcoming encounters.
And that is precisely what Al Kharaitiyat coach Yasser Sebaie is targeting ahead of their Week 15 match against Al Sailiya.
Sebaie took over as coach after the club management sacked the Tunisian coach Ahmad Al Ajlani’s. The 0-2 loss to Al Khor last week resulted in dismissal of Ajlan.
“Our team is going through a tough phase, there is no doubt about it. I have just taken charge following the departure of Ahmad Al Ajlani and got only two days to work with the players. We have a serious problem ahead of our game against a strong side like Al Sailiya. We will miss five players, four through injuries and Josue Mohy due to suspension as he had picked up a fourth yellow card in the last match against Al Khor, which we lost 0-2,” Sebaie said on the eve of the match.
“I hope our new recruit, Yemeni midfielder Ahmad Al Hifi, comes good in the remaining games and I wish him good luck. We can still move up in the standings. I have been associated with the team for five years now and I know the players well,” he added.
“I know our situation is precarious. In fact, many teams are facing problems and are under pressure, not just us. We can stay clear of the danger zone with one or two victories,” said Yasser.
Al Sailiya is on 23 points and will aim look to continue their winning ways, having beaten Al Markhiya 4-1 last week. They had suffered a 0-6 defeat at the hands of Al Sadd in the previous week and had drawn 1-1 with Al Arabi in Week 12. Yet, The Peregrines were lucky to have stayed fourth.
However, Sam Trabelsi’s men cannot afford to drop points if they are not to lose the fourth position to Umm Salal who are breathing down their neck with three points adrift of them.
“All games are difficult. Our main target against Al Kharaitiyat is to play how we did last week when we beat Al Markhiya 4-1. We are also going through a difficult stage and we worked a lot on the psychological aspects ahead of this game,” Trabelsi said.
“This match is not so crucial for us, but an important one as far as we are concerned. We must be wary of Al Khor. They have good strikers who can come hard at us. It is not a great thing that we have conceded many goals,” he added.
“Our defence is not bad. We will miss Abdulrahman Al Harazi who has gone back to Al Rayyan even though he was not doing that great with us. In fact, we needed him more than Al Rayyan,” he added.
“Overall, our performance is good and we are far away from the danger zone. But to stay in the fourth position, we must work more and get more positive results. Our ambition is a top-four finish,” Trabelsi said.
Al Duhail lead the table followed by Al Sadd in the second followed by Al Rayyan.
In the coming days, Al Sadd win eye to overtake Duhail and they hope some of the teams will do a favour by ending the unbeaten run of the league leaders and they do not drop points on the way.
