Al Ahly’s Swiss trainer Marcel Kohler says his side has enough fuel in the tank to better Cotonsport during Friday’s CAF Champions League clash despite having to do without a number of key players due to injuries.
The under fire trainer is still running after a first win for the ten-time champions of the competition provided the assurance during the routine pre-match conference this Wednesday as the Red Devils prepare to face fellow strugglers Cotonsport of Garoua in a crucial delayed match day one fixture at the Al Salaam stadium at 5PM this Friday.
Speaking during the pre-match conference Killer highlighted the importance of some of the injured but assured all will be well against the record champions of Cameroon.
“I don’t think that Ahly will be affected by the absence of injured players. We have great players in our squad. Plus, Bruno Savio and Ayman Ashraf have returned to training,” says Koller.
Al Ahly sacrificed a 2-1 lead against current leaders Mamelodi Sundowns FC last weekend but picked their first point of the 2022/23 CAF Champions League season having lost to Al Hilal SC in their first game a fortnight ago.
Koller still has regrets about the outings so far though he remains optimistic.
“I played 26 matches so far, with only three defeats including a match against Real Madrid, the biggest team in the world, but the one that I was sad about losing is that game in Sudan against Al Hilal.
“We didn’t achieve the best result against Sundowns. But we still have four games in the group stage. We will concentrate on winning them,” the coach added.
Ahly’s wing wizard Mahmoud ‘Kahraba’ Abdel-Moneim is sweating to be fit for the game against Cotonsport as sources say he has been burnt out by his club’s engagement in too many competitions.
Koller gave some positive updates about him to fans of the runners-up of last season’s competition.
“We will determine Kharaba’s situation during today’s training session,” Koller concluded.
Cotonsport needs to be at their best for their own interest plus the interest of the group as a result against Ahly keeps their quarter-final hopes alive and also opens the group which is currently led by the Masandawa with 7 points and Florent Ibenge’s Al Hilal SC who are just a point off the South Africans half-way through the group stages.
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