Al Ahli star Habib Fardan believes a strong showing in the AFC Champions League can help the club revive their faltering season.

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Struggling down in seventh place in the AGL, the reigning UAE champions face their Saudi Arabian namesakes on Wednesday – Al Ahli of Jeddah. 

And Fardan, who on Monday helped adidas launch the ‘There will be Haters’ advertising campaign in Dubai, said: “We were hoping to be better than our results but step by step we are improving. Now we are concentrating on the Asian Champions League.

“I hope we change the image and show everybody who Al Ahli are and perform much better than the beginning of the season.

“It’s going to be a hard game of course because Al Ahli are in a good position. They are performing very well so it’s going to be a hard game for both teams. I think it will be a great game.”

Fardan was also full of praise for his UAE international team-mate Omar Abdulrahman who this week inked a new three-year contract with club Al Ain. 

“I want to congratulate Omar for signing a new contract,” he said. “I think he is going to improve and he will be able to play in a good team in Europe in the future. In my opinion, I think he can play in any league in Europe.”