Isa Al Hamdani has set his sights on a fourth straight win for his Al Muharraq side as the Bahrainis seek to seal their spot in the Round of 16 in the 2016 AFC Cup with victory over Al Jaish on Wednesday.
The Bahrainis will be without suspended midfielder Jamal Rashed, who picked up a second booking of the group stage in the meeting between the teams on Matchday Three, but Al Hamdani is confident his team can book their ticket for the next phase.
"We won our first three matches in the competition and now are on top of the group with nine points, so our target is to get the win that will secure our place in the knockout stage," he said.
"We had a narrow win in the previous match against Al Jaish, who are a strong team with good players. We will try our best to improve our performance in the next match but the most important thing is that we get the three points."
Al Jaish have played only twice in the competition so far this season and have collected three points, but coach Ahmad Al Shaar knows his side need to put on an impressive performance if they are to harbour hopes of advancing to the knockout phase.
“This match is decisive for us. We need a good performance and have to win,” he said. “We know our opponents are a strong team and they are the group leaders which means that the match will not be easy for us.
"We still have a chance to qualify to the knockout stage and the other two teams also have their chance. Therefore, we must give our best tomorrow in order to get the three points and remain in contention."
Fanja are bottom of the group having secured only one point from their first three games and the Omani club go into the game under the control of new coach Sulaiman Khamis, who replaced the recently sacked Lotfi Jbara.
They prepared in style on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Al Masnaa in the local league and Khamis is in a relaxed frame of mind going into the game.
“I’m comfortable with the preparations we have had,” he said. “We will go into the game fully motivated after our victory in the local league and hopefully we can achieve our target by winning the match tomorrow.
“We will be concentrating fully on the match and fighting to win. We have a complete squad and hopefully this will help us achieve our first win in the competition and please our fans, who I hope will support us in big numbers tomorrow.”
Ahli Al Khalil have, like Al Jaish, played just two games so far and also have three points, ensuring the Palestinian club remain upbeat about their chances of qualifying for the next round.
Defender Ahmed Mahajna will be available after missing the last match due to suspension but Ahli Al Khalil will go into the game off the back of a 2-0 loss at the hands of Hilal Al Quds in their most recent league game at the weekend.
“We are ready for the match although our opponents Fanja are a strong team,” said coach Ayman Sandouqa. “We came here to get the three points although we are under a lot of pressure due to the heavy schedule that we have.
“We have a lot of determination to win and our players are ready to put in a good performance. We play as one unit and we are optimistic but at the same time we have great respect our opponents.”
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