Qatar Stars League (QSL) outfit Al Wakrah go into their round of 15 clash against Al Ahli today fully aware that the decisive phase of the tournament could throw up interesting battles.
Al Wakrah are placed 8th on the points table whereas Al Ahli will be looking to stop the rot after three successive defeats.
“This is the second game of the second part of the season. Games will get more difficult now and this match is even more difficult because we are playing a good team,” Al Wakrah coach Jose Mauricio said yesterday.
 “In the last few games they haven’t had good results. The game will be very tough. We are going into this match with lots of motivation.
 “We respect this team and we won’t take it easy. We have to be ready to find opportunities to attack if we want to score and get points from this game. The points are becoming more and more important as the games go by.
“In the table a lot of teams are bunched together. We are always looking to win all our games. If we win this game we will reach a good position.”
Mauricio added that Al Ahli won’t be pushovers, having given better teams a run for their money.
“Al Ahli are a strong team as a whole but they are having difficulty in scoring. They have created a lot of chances but haven’t been able to convert them.
 “Against El Jaish they attacked a lot and created a lot of chances but couldn’t score. Maybe their weakness is in their minds and they could be suffering from a lack of confidence.
 “But this could be a motivation for the players and we have to careful. We are preparing ourselves for all scenarios and will be playing this match like it’s a final.”
 Al Ahli coach Zlatko Kranjcar said a win today would help boost the morale of the boys.
 “It has been a long time since we got a win. And so our only objective is to win this game even though we are in a tough situations because we have injuries to key players,” Kranjcar said.
“Meshall Mubarak and John Benson are doubtful for the match and we will only know before the match whether they will be ready or not. Our main objective remains to return to our style of play and get back to winning ways.
 “We have to respect Al Wakrah. Before this break they were playing well. They 3-4 high quality players - Sebastian Saez and Mohsin Moutalli are players who can change the game quickly.
“The only thing that we are looking is to get a result and I am confident that my players will able to respond to the challenge and produce a positive result.
The game will kick off at  Al Ahli Stadium today at 6.45pm.