Lekhwiya’s Youssef Msakni is expecting a tough game against El Jaish in round 19 of the QSL. The Tunisian midfielder told www.qsl.com.qa a positive result against the Soldiers would be a timely boost ahead of their opening AFC Champions League fixture.

What are your thoughts on El Jaish going into this weekend’s game?
It’ll be a difficult game as we’re facing one of the best teams in the QSL. El Jaish have been one of the most consistent teams this season, so it’s going to be a big test for us.
From our side, we want to get back to winning ways after two disappointing results. It’s important we return to our previous form.

Why has Lekhwiya’s form dipped in recent weeks?
It’s only two games so we’re not too concerned. We feel confident we’ll get back to winning ways soon. Also, before the last two weeks we won eight league games in a row and beat Al Sadd in the Sheikh Jassim Cup final, so we have shown good form recently.

El Jaish won the reverse fixture 2-0. Will that affect Lekhwiya?
The first match is behind us now. We can only concentrate on the next game. It’s an important one for us as we are preparing for the AFC Champions League and want to go into that game full of confidence.

How will Djamel Belmadi’s absence from the touchline affect you?
All we can do is adapt to the situation. We would like the head coach to be in the technical area but it won’t be the case this weekend.

What’s your ambition with Lekhwiya this season?
We’re a big club so our ambition is to win as many competitions as possible. We are not just aiming to win one competition. Our biggest ambition is to win the AFC Champions League.
We’ve already won the Sheikh Jassim Cup and we feel capable of picking up more silverware before the end of the season.

What do you think about the title race and Al Rayyan’s big lead at the top?
If you look at the points difference, there is no doubt that Al Rayyan are very close to winning the title. All we can do is keep winning and try to put pressure on them.