Cosmin Olaroiu, the Al Ahli manager, will have a full squad at his disposal when his side travels to Al Shabab on Tuesday night for their Arabian Gulf Cup semi-final.
There has been a 10-day break in domestic action, but Olaroiu saw several of his players take to the field on Saturday with the national team for their 2-1 friendly won over Iceland.
“I would like to thank the national team for not using them for the full time,” Olaroiu said.
“We have not had the full squad for so long. We need to work on everything for a tough game against Shabab.”
Olaroiu also dismissed transfer speculation suggesting Ciel, the Brazilian striker, will leave the club in the current window. Ciel recently returned from nearly a year out injured in place of his injured compatriot Rodrigo Lima.
“About the rumours, I cannot talk or say anything,” said the Romanian. “For now, we have our players who I want.
“We are trying to get the best out of them. We hear a lot of names but I don’t know where these come from.”
Olaroiu’s counterpart at Shabab, Caio Junior, has led his side to their fourth semi-final since joining the Dubai club 18 months ago.
“This is very good and I’m very happy about this,” said the Brazilian. “Last year we were champions in the GCC Cup, and now this season we have reached our first semi-final.
“We need to believe, and our fans need to believe on us. We need their help and support because it will be very important for Shabab to reach the final.”
Hassan Ibrahim is back from the national duty while they will miss the services of Hassan Hamza who is away with the Olympic team in Qatar.
In the other semi-final, Al Wasl are at home against Al Wahda at the Zabeel stadium earlier in the evening.
Gabriel Calderon, the Wasl manager, said his team have no room for error.
“It will be a very tough match, we are happy to arrive in this situation and I have confidence on my team,” he said.
“In the league you play and after that you continue regardless of the result but in the knockout format there may not be another match. There are no apologies. You cannot make a mistake. There is no place for mistakes. They are not allowed in knockout football.
“If we win the next match we go to the final, every time we are working to win and try to pass to the next stage, we are happy to be in a semi-final but it’s now about getting to the final.”
Wahda will have seven players absent, four on national service and three with the Olympic team in Qatar.
But they will have their new South Korean signing Rim Chang-woo making his debut after replacing Kuwait international Hussain Fadhel.
apassela@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport