Bani Yas coach Jorge da Silva insists his team has time on their side as they look to bounce back from back-to-back defeats and reach the AFC Champions League group stages.
Al Samawi suffered a damaging Arabian Gulf League defeat to Al Nasr in Al Shamkha last night, just five days before they are due to face Kuwaiti side Al Qadsia in the second round of qualifying for the continental competition.
Nasr’s 2-0 win at the Bani Yas Stadium was the hosts’ second loss in six days to one of their contenders for a top four place but da Silva does not think his side’s league form will have any bearing on their Asian hopes.
“The next competition is totally different, it has nothing to do with the results in the league,” the Uruguayan said. “Maybe it will be a good chance for some of the players to play in the AFC Champions League. Maybe this result was a shock for some of my players. There are five days, that is enough time to prepare the players and forget about this result.”
Bani Yas spurned the chance to take the lead early in the first half as Yousef Jaber missed a penalty, but da Silva refused to blame his captain for the defeat.
He added: “Yousef Jaber is one of the best players here, he is always willing to take responsibility. But maybe today he wasn’t lucky enough.This can happen in football, players miss penalties.”
Bani Yas midfielder Nawaf Mubarak accepts his side must improve – and create more scoring opportunities – if they are to beat Qadsia on Saturday.
“This was a bad result,” Nawaf said. “The team have more but we did not create any real chances. I hope that we win in Asia but the team must be better and should create more chances.”
Meanwhile, Al Ain coach Quique Sanchez Flores was forced to miss his side’s training session last night after catching a fever, the club have confirmed.
Sanchez Flores’ assistants took training at the Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium but the former Atletico Madrid and Valencia boss is expected back in the dug out for Thursday’s Arabian Gulf League game against Dubai.