Doha: Defending champions Lekhwiya will look to assert themselves against Al Gharafa when they two meet today coach Djamel Belmadi said yesterday.

The round 14 clash will take place Al Ahli Stadium and Belmadi said a sixth consecutive win could do wonders for his team’s desire of reaching the top of Qatar Stars League (QSL) points race.

Lekhwiya are behind Al Rayyan Al Sadd and El Jaish.

“Our ambition is not to be in the top 4. Till the moment we have a chance with the points we will continue to fight and try and finish as high as possible” Belmadi said yesterday.

“We have never sacrificed one competition for the other. We are playing in many tough and difficult competitions and that is not so easy especially when you have a small squad like ours” Belmadi said.

“But we want to play big games and to go as far as we can in any competition. We don’t want to choose which competition we want to play in. We are trying to win everything that is possible” he added.

“Al Gharafa is a big club. They are going through a rough patch currently. Changing a coach mid-season is never easy for the players or the club” Belmadi said when asked about Al Gharafa’s eighth spot in QSL points race.

“But like always you cannot predict the result. Especially when teams play against us there is always an extra level of motivation among the opponents. They have players with lots of quality like Alain Dioko and Yasin Chikhaoui. These are players with lots of experience and they know how to deal with these kind of tough moments” the Algerian added.

Al Gharafa coach Habib Sadeq said his side cannot afford to lose more games.

“We have to stop losing points and stop losing games” Sadeq said.

“The game will be difficult. We are playing the champions. We have tried to prepare for this game. And we gave some days for players to recover and now we have to enter this game with full concentration” Sadeq added.

“We are looking to win three points. We know that on paper Lekhwiya are favourites for this game. But Al Gharafa always enter any game with 50 per cent chance against any opponent. And we will play with determination during the entire duration of the game and look to take the victory.

“I am now the head coach and am trying to prepare the team for each game. I am focussing only on my players. And if I have any pressure then its only regarding results. We have to win games.

“Now we are focussing on trying to comeback and collect as many points as we can. The second half of the season will be very important for us” he added.

The game starts at 6:45pm.

Meanwhile Al Arabi will be targeting wins against Al Wakrah and Al Khor in their next two clashes coach Gianfranco Zola said. Placed fifth on the points table Al Arabi are coming off a lost against Al Sailiya last week.

“Now we have two games which are against Al Wakrah and Al Khor in which we are looking forward to improve our scoring performance. And that is something that I believe we need to do” Zola said yesterday.

“I have spoken to my players regarding this and that is why we are focussing on” the Italian added.

“We are coming from a game where we lost. From a managerial point of view the game against Al Sailiya wasn’t that bad. We played a good game. At the moment we are playing well but we are not finalising what we are doing. We are not creating and converting our chances” Zola said ahead of today’s clash against Al Wakrah.

“Last season at this point we had 15 points and now we have 23 points. We are doing slightly better in terms of points. But we have scored two goals less than what we did managed last year and have conceded two goals less.

“Normally the teams that I coach score a lot. We know that the second part of the season will be more difficult. Teams like Lekhwiya Al Sadd and El Jaish will be stronger in the second half of the season.

“But we will be strong too. We know what we need to work on and we have already started doing that. Right now the team has an identity which is a team that plays good football. But now we have to become a team that is dangerous. And that is my focus going forward” he said.

“I think confidence comes when results are going your way week after week. This helps the players psychologically too. But you can’t give confidence to the players by saying - You have to be strong. I don’t worry about that.

The Peninsula