Al Ahly head coach Patrice Carteron is feeling positive ahead of his side’s clash with Algeria’s ES Setif in the CAF Champions League semi-final match.
Earlier this month, the Red Devils defeated ES Setif 2-0 at El-Salam stadium in the first leg match thanks to Walid Soliman and Islam Mohareb goals.
However, a number of players were ruled out before the game including Momen Zakaria, Nasser Maher, Akram Tawfik, Ali Maaloul, Sherif Ekramy, Junior Ajayi, and Mohamed Naguib.
“Al Ahly’s approach to games is not about defending. Regardless of the two-goal lead advantage, we will be aiming to win or finish the game with a positive result,” Carteron told the press on Monday.
“All players who travelled to Algeria are ready for the encounter. They are in a good physical and technical form and they are training hard to snatch the qualification ticket.
“I know very well that tomorrow’s game will not be easy because we will be facing a tough opponent, especially that they will be playing on their home ground and among their fans. But Al Ahly can return to Cairo with the qualification ticket.”
The French coach announced his squad for the game in which Saad Samir, Ahmed Fathi, Mido Gaber, and Salah Mohsen were included after they have recovered from their injuries.
Carteron spoke about the absence of Ali Maaloul assuring that this issue will not affect the defence line because of his strategy and the alternatives he prepared for the same position.
“During the past period, we were able to prepare about three players for each position in the squad. This helped us work around our shortage of players in a number of games without anyone feeling any difference in our style. For such reason, we did not stop winning locally or in the African or Arab Championships,” he added.
