Asian Champions League: No excuses for Al Jazira ahead of Al Jaish clash

The off-form Abu Dhabi club need to win in Qatar tonight to keep their continental competition hopes alive.

Al Jazira have had a chequered season. Ravindranath K / The National

Luis Milla, the Al Jazira coach, highlighted the importance of his team's Asian Champions League game away at fellow strugglers Al Jaish in Qatar.

The two teams are at the bottom of Group A with a point apiece and a defeat for either would signal the end of any realistic hope of making the knockout stages.

"We will fight from the start to the end to win this game," said Milla, who has won just one out of his six games in charge of Jazira.

"It is a critical game for both teams. Al Jaish is a strong team, but we have to deal with them on their home pitch. We haven't had much time to prepare after the league game on Friday, but we won't take that as an excuse," he said.

Al Jaish lost 2-0 away at Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab in their first match, before a 3-3 home draw against Tractor Sazi of Iran, a team who beat Jazira 3-1.

Milla will be without the services of Matias Delgado, his hardworking Argentine midfielder, who is serving a one-match ban for a late red card in the 1-1 draw against Shabab two weeks ago, and the centre back Juma Abdulla, because of injury.

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