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Al Nasr v Bani Yas Pre-Match Press Conferences

Walter Zenga described his Al Nasr side’s game with Bani Yas as ‘complex’, stating that Bani Yas have reached a very good level of performance in the League as their position of second in the table demonstrates. “We have to play intelligently in order to achieve the result we seek,” explained the Italian coach, adding; “We have a winning spirit amongst our players and we have achieved positive results in recent meetings.” Zenga also refused to make any complaints about missing players through injury or suspension, as Brazilian forward Bruno Cesar will not be available for the game as he sits out having picked up three bookings, whilst defender Rashid Malullah is out injured. “I’m not looking for excuses; it’s normal for all teams to lose players to injury and suspension, and we have achieved some very good results when we’ve had players missing before,” he said. Zenga also confirmed that Al Nasr have made an official request to the Pro League Committee to delay their Round 21 Etisalat Pro League match away at Al Wahda by one day, asking that it be rescheduled for 15th April rather than 14th April as it currently stands, as Al Nasr face an AFC Champions League away fixture at Al Gharafa in Qatar on 10th April.

Bani Yas coach Josef Chovanec says his side will play to win at the Al Maktoum Stadium as they look to hold onto their lofty position in the League. The sky blues will also be missing key players for the game, with Chovanec confirming; “We will work with the available squad in light of news that Christian Wilhelmsson and Ahmed Ali are injured, as well as Amer Abdulrahman and Haboush Saleh, who have niggles after the international break.” Chovanec praised the performance of another of Bani Yas’ players who was in action for his national team during the week, as Mohamed Aboutrika scored the winning goal for Egypt in their game against Zimbabwe having recovered from injury.