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Cosmin’s Al Ain suffer injury problems for trip to Esteghlal

Al Ain head coach Cosmin Olaroiu confirmed that key players Helal Saeed and Ali Al Wehaibi will miss out on Al Ain’s tough Group D away game at Iran’s Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday night, as both are suffering from injuries. Speaking at his pre-match press conference in Tehran ahead of the fixture, the Romanian coach predicted an exciting game. “It will be a challenging contest in front of a big crowd, and we will treat the game with the same enthusiasm as we do any match in any tournament, although our priority remains retaining our Pro League title. We have been under a lot of pressure lately and have not had much chance to prepare due to playing a game every three days,” he explained. “We will go into the game with the mentality to win as always, but in my opinion a point away from home in the Champions League would be a positive,” Cosmin added.

Esteghlal head coach Amir Ghalenoei is expecting to face what he described as one of the best Arab teams of recent times as Al Ain visit the Azadi Stadium, and knows that his players will have to be in top form against a side packed full of attacking threats. “Al Ain play in a very collectively organised way and in particular they possess great offensive power, so our defense will have to be very strong to stop their dangerous strikers,” the Iranian coach said. “We hope our fans will really get behind us and show their support for us in the game against Al Ain, as they will be the key for us to win,” he added.