Al Rayyan coach Laurent Blanc spoke to the media ahead of their 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League Week 4 match against Al Khor.

“I have all the confidence in my players to provide a fighting performance and achieve victory against Al Khor in the fourth round. We played three matches before this one and have two points. So we have to compensate for the loss of points and get full points from the next match. We need the three points.

“I know the Al Khor team and their coach well, but we will fight because we need points. I hope some of my players – who were absent – will return. We talked a lot about the deal to sign James Rodriguez, but now we have to focus on playing against Al Khor.

“We will miss a player like Ahmed Abdelmaqsoud. He is a great player, but I will not change my plan. We need players in the middle so we got Khamis and in my opinion, this is a good combination for the team. W have to have great motivation and fight.

“I wish to include the ones who were absent and strengthen the starting line-up with Ahmed Yasser. It is true that my top list of players is not complete now, but I hope it will be completed in the coming days or weeks,” said Blanc.

Al Rayyan player Ali Malalah said, “We feel Al Rayyan will face difficulties against Al Khor, but the players will strive to provide a better level.

“We lost against Al Sadd in the last match and we need to correct mistakes committed in that game. So far, we have lost seven points, so we will try to provide a better level. We aspire to collect the three points to get back on the right track.

“In the last match, Yacine Brahimi came back from an injury and his return increases our experience. The signing of James Rodriguez, a world-class player, will be a massive boost. He was playing with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and that experience gives our team enough potential to do well in the coming days. We hope that he will help us in the upcoming matches and we will benefit from his experience on and off the field.”