Eric Gerets has promised to hand starts to more of his younger players when Al Jazira travel to Arabian Gulf Cup Group A leaders Al Shabab on Tuesday night as the Belgian looks to build competition for starting places in his squad.
In their latest Cup clash against Al Ain, only two of Jazira's regulars – Jonathan Pitroipa and Jucilei – were on the starting list as Gerets decided to give an opportunity to his reserve and Under 21 players.
The youngsters did not disappoint their coach as Jazira cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win and Gerets intends to continue that experiment.
“I am going to rest some of the players who played against Al Ain and give an opportunity to those who did not play the last game,” Gerets told the Jazira website ahead of tonight’s clash in Dubai.
“So the team will be a mix of our regulars, substitutes and the younger players, and I will do the same in the next match against Ajman [November 19].
“The purpose is to create more competition among the players for the starting places.” Gerets is not expecting his rival number, Caio Junior, to indulge in any similar experiments and has predicted a stiff test for his squad.
“But this is a perfect opportunity for us to know more about our strengths and weaknesses, measure our abilities and see where we stand without our international players like Ali Kasheif, Khamis Esmail, Ali Mabkhout and Mirko Vucinic,” the Jazira coach said.
Shabab have won both their Cup matches, defeating Al Wasl and Kalba, and Junior is hoping his team can keep their winning streak going.
“Our goal is to reach the final,” he said. “Getting six points from two games is a positive sign, but we need to make sure we keep going at the same level.”
In Group B, Al Wahda will be looking to open their Cup account when they travel to Al Dhafra tonight. The AGL leaders were beaten 3-1 at home by defending champions Al Ahli in their opening game.
Jose Peseiro knows his team will not have an easy time against Dhafra, who stunned Ahli 2-1 in their latest match last week.
“They are a very well organised team and are looking to win a title this year after reaching the semis of both the President’s Cup and League Cup last season,” the Wahda coach said.
“So I am not going to predict the outcome of the match. The only thing I am going to promise is we are going to fight in every match we play, in every tournament.”
Al Ain and Ahli will be in action on Wednesday, depleted by the absence of their international players but hoping to put their Cup campaign back on track.
Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, will be missing as many as 11 players when they host Al Nasr, while Cosmin Olaroiu’s defending champions have a difficult away game at Sharjah.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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