Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, concedes that his squad are still short from the level required to compete in next month's crucial Asian Champions League quarter-final against Al Ittihad.
The 2003 champions have been busy preparing for the two-legged clash with their Saudi Arabian counterparts, and on Saturday night completed the three-team Al Ain International Football Championship with a 1-1 draw against Al Nassr, another Saudi side.
Al Ain, who earlier this month spent two weeks at a training camp in Italy, finished as the tournament winners, having defeated Al Kuwait 4-0 in their opening match last week.
However, Dalic knows much remains to be accomplished before Al Ain welcome Ittihad to the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium for the first leg of the Champions League tie, on August 19. The two teams meet in the return match in Jeddah the following week.
"My team seemed tired after two matches in three days," Dalic said. "We played slowly in the first half [against Nassr] and some mistakes appeared, but in general, the team seemed good in the second half.
"It is not completely ready yet. Some players need more training to increase fitness in the coming 20 days to correct all the mistakes and get ready for the match against Ittihad.
"I am aware of our targets in the coming season and we want to make our fans happy, but the primary target is winning the match against Ittihad. Overall, I'm satisfied by the level of the team now, but we should be more cautious in the coming period."
Al Ain now depart for another camp, this time in Austria, on Thursday and return on August 12 ahead of the Ittihad encounter. The coming weeks will be important not only in gaining fitness and match sharpness, but to integrate this summer's signings into the squad.
Miroslav Stoch, the Slovakian winger, and Lee Myung-joo, the South Korean midfielder, joined in the past month.
Al Ain have bolstered their local ranks, too, recruiting two more midfielders in Rashid Essa, on a season-long loan from Al Wasl, and Mohammed Fawzi, who arrived from Baniyas on a three-year contract. Essa, in particular, is embracing the extended pre-season, given that the former UAE international has spent much of the past 18 months battling injury.
"I feel better, I'm improving in training and I've started gaining self-confidence again on the pitch," Essa said. "I hope I get a chance to win the fans' trust as well as to pay back faith to Zlatko, who has shown his trust in me.
"I've started growing more in confidence after each training session and I wish to be ready before the start of the season."
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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