Al Gharafa head into their game against Muaither off the back of a 3-0 loss to Lekhwiya. Head coach Pedro Caixinia and winger Vladimir Weiss spoke to the media ahead of the game. 

Opening up the press conference Caixinia stressed that his side had only one aim against Muaither. “Both teams will be fighting for the three points, we don’t care about our position in the table right now. It’s not a case of getting back into the top four the sole aim is just to get the three points. 

The Portugeese coach also stressed that his side had completely forgotten their 3-0 defeat to the current league leaders Lekhiwya. “I think we need to understand why we loss but the Lekhwiya result is in the past now. I am focused now on the Muaither game. It is our third final of the season, and a win is the aim that is all.”

“Muaither have many good attacking players in their side, we have to counter the all the attacking players in the squad and that will be our aim against Muaither who are fighting for survival” noted Caixina in the Thursday morning press conference. 

Whilst Gharafa winger Vladimir Weiss noted the threat posed by the bottom club in the QSL. “Muaither are a tough opponent, if we want to reach the top four these are the games we have to win, We will do everything we can to get the three points that we want.”

“Our first aim is the top four places, we are concentrating game to game we have a good enough squad to win something. We have beaten El Jaish and Al Rayyan in the league” added the Slovakian international. 

Newly promoted Muaither are currently bottom of the QSL standings, however the Stallions did register their first point in eight games with a 1-1 draw with Al Shahania. Head coach Phillipe Birol spoke to the media ahead of the game. 

Opening up the press conference Birol noted that his side have the capabilities to pull off an upset. “Al Gharafa are strong in attack with plenty of quality. We must play strong defensively and be aggressive, and take our chances that we get. I am confident that we can get something from the game.” 

“It’s important that we drew against Al Shahania it stopped a run of defeats in the league. We had lots of possession and did well, now we have to begin a new better cycle where we start picking up points in the league” noted the French coach during the Thursday morning press conference. 

The French coach also called for his side to play with confidence heading into the game against top four chasing Al Gharafa. “I want to see a side who wants to play football and fight in each game. I want to see my side play with confidence in each game and give their best possible showing, whatever level the side we are taking on.”

With Alain Dioko injured Birol is counting on new signings Ahmed Yasin and Minori Sato in this match “The two new signings lot’s of talent they have shown this in training. I am now expecting them to step up because Alain Dioko will be unavailable for this match.”