Al Gharafa coach Zico (L) and Lekhwiya’s Eric Gerets addressing the media ahead of this weekend’s QSL matches.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Al Gharafa coach Zico insists his side should be taking tips off El Jaish.

The Brazilian legend is nothing short of impressed at the way Razvan Lucescu’s side have soared to the top of the league as they maintain their undefeated start to the season.

Zico insists the progress of El Jaish demonstrates what can be achieved with hard-work and confidence in a QSL that is still wide open in one of the most exciting seasons yet.

And as both teams prepared to face each other today, The Cheetahs coach insists Jaish are the trend-setters for this current campaign.

He said: “El Jaish are contenders for the title, I don’t have any doubts about that.

“Their position in the table should be an encouragement for us. We look at them at the top of the table and hope the same is possible for ourselves.

“We need some consistency on the park if we want to keep picking up points. This is what El Jaish have done and this is what we need to look to do. If we have all our best players playing to their full potential on the day then I think we should do well. It will be a very challenging game.”

Romanian coach Lucescu might have steered his side to the top of the league. But he knows he will have to be wary of a team that seems to be scoring for fun right now.

He claimed: “Gharafa have scored nine goals in two games so we are well aware just how tough this is going to be.

“They play with great enthusiasm and have a lot of confidence going into matches right now. Their players like to put the opposition under pressure very high up the park so we have to be wary of this and not take any unnecessary risks.

“We have shown some great fighting spirit this season to remain undefeated. Even if we are only winning games 1-0 then it’s enough to keep our ambitions on track.

“It doesn’t bother me if we are missing chances. It only concerns me that we are winning games.”

Meanwhile, Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets is still coming to terms with his team’s loss to Al Ahli last week.

He’s taking nothing for granted in tomorrow’s match with Al Rayyan, who are looking to build on their 0-0 draw with Qatar Sports Club last week.

Gerets still wants to haul his team into the shake-up of a title fight – but knows three points this weekend will be crucial to help him achieve such a thing.

He said: “We want to give the best performance we can and make up for the disappointment of the last result.

“In every match we need to show good commitment and treat each game the same. If you are not as committed as the other team then you are going to face problems. This is what happened in our last match with Al Ahli.

“This match with Al Rayyan is very important because both teams are looking to improve on our situations. Victory for either team is going to be very important. I don’t think we have any problems psychologically. We are in a positive frame of mind – we just need to stay focused on the task in hand and look for the victory.”

For Rayyan’s Spanish coach Manolo Jimenez, a win over a team such a Lekhwiya would demonstrate he’s begun turning round a tough situation at the club. Jimenez is still finding his feet in his new job but admits things are starting to slowly improve.

He said: “This is a big test for us and how far we have come in such a short space of time. It’s going to be a very difficult game. We will do everything we can achieve the result we desire.

“There will be a lot of good players on the pitch in this game, all looking for the same outcome. We would like to be closer to the top but we cannot change what happened in previous games.

“With hard work and effort though I think it’s possible we can start to climb the table and improve the position we found ourselves in.

“We know where our problems are, that is for sure. We will work hard to solve all our problems, no matter how long that might take. The team will be better equipped when all of our players return but for now we can’t use that as excuses.”

FIXTURES

Today:

Al Ahli vs Al Khor, Grand Hamad Stadium, 4pm

Umm Salal vs Al Kharatiat, Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium, 4pm

El Jaish vs Al Gharafa, Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, 6.30pm

Tomorrow:

Al Sadd vs Muaither, Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, 4pm

Al Sailiya vs Qatar Sports Club, Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, 4pm

Al Rayyan vs Lekhwiya, Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, 6.30pm

Al Arabi vs Al Wakrah, Grand Hamad Stadium, 6.30pm