Al Wasl caretaker coach Saleem Abdulrahman has told his beleaguered squad they must redouble their efforts if they are to improve their wretched recent form.

Abdulrahman is yet to taste victory since taking over from Hector Cuper at the Zabeel Stadium until the end of the season earlier this month.

The Cheetahs are winless in their last six games in all competitions, while they have won just once since December 15. 

Their latest loss, 3-1 at the hands of Al Wahda, showed a team low on confidence and belief as they rarely looked like bringing an end to their poor run. 

Following the game, Saeed Al Kathiri, signed from Wahda in January, suggested his new club lacked spirit in the dressing room.

“It’s a psychological problem,” Abdulrahman said. “We need to work hard, we need to improve ourselves, we need to recover from our mistakes. We need to work hard because I don’t have a magic wand, but what I can say is we will do exactly that to improve.”

Wasl’s slide down the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) table has come at a time when they have struggled to find the back of the net.

The Cheetahs have scored just five goals in their last 10 league outings, with Ricardo Oliveira’s injury-time penalty against Wahda on Friday night his first since his January move from Al Jazira. 

His strike partner Al Kathiri is yet to find the target in six AGL appearances for the club, although he did hit two in a 3-2 UAE League Cup defeat to Al Nasr.

Against Wahda, the Cheetahs’ fragile confidence in front of goal was all too apparent as promising moves constantly broke down in or around the area.

Abdulrahman added: “We reached the goal many times but we had bad luck with this. What can we do? We attacked many times but were not able to score.”

For all their recent troubles Wasl are still eight points clear of the relegation zone, in 11th, largely due to their early form under Cuper.

If they are to ensure the current malaise does not carry over into next season, Abdulrahman is well aware that the hard work needs to be put in now, at all levels of the club.

“We are all responsible, we have to work together as one unit to solve this issue,” he said. “We are all handling these problems, from the players, the management, everyone working at Al Wasl. But as I have said before, what weneed to do is work, work, work.

“We need to improve our own mistakes and we have to improve ourselves and we need to face our problems.”

Next up for Wasl is a home game against Dubai rivals Al Nasr.