Al Ain manager Rebrov faces balancing act in fight for Pro League Cup final spot

Garden City club face Al Jazira in semi-final second-leg but must also prepare for crucial game against Al Wahda in Pro League

Al Ain’s Ivorian defender Kouame Autonne, right, scored in the 1-1 draw against Al Jazira in the Pro League Cup first leg semi-final at Mohamed bin Zayed stadium. Photo: PLC

Al Ain manager Serhiy Rebrov has urged his players to put the 1-1 draw against Al Jazira behind them and focus on winning the Pro League Cup semi-final second-leg.

The Garden City club will be at home against Jazira in the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday, hoping for a better result than last time. Kouame Autonne scored a spectacular early goal to put Al Ain ahead but Bruno De Oliveira equalised for Jazira six minutes after the break at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium.

“We must play true to our potential to win the home game outright and take our place in the final,” the Ukrainian said.

“We had to shuffle players between the league and cup games but we are fully prepared for this game against Jazira.

“Of course we need to play our best football against Jazira. They are one of the strongest teams in the domestic competition and to counter them we need to be at our best and play smart.”

Rebrov has a full squad at his disposal but is likely to rotate his players for the decisive top-of-the-table game against Al Wahda in the Adnoc Pro League on Saturday.

“We have had to choose players between the league and cup matches when we played the first leg semi-final against Jazira and we’ll have to adopt that line again for the return leg,” he added.

“Obviously we’ll monitor the players who are recovering after the last game against Al Orooba [1-1 result last Friday] in the league. All our players understand how important this cup match is for us and they are ready for it.”

Al Wahda have a one-goal deficit to turn around when they meet Shabab Al Ahli in the second semi-final at the Al Nahyan Stadium on the same night.

Wahda already played Shabab Al Ahli twice, losing the cup game 1-0 before registering a comprehensive 3-1 win in the league two days later on Friday.

“We know it’s going to be another tough game, physically, but we are prepared to give our best shot to reach the cup final,” Wahda manager Gregory Dufrennes said.

“They hold the advantage after the 1-0 result and we have to check on the fitness of our players from the last game.

“We played some of our younger players in the first leg cup match but for this game the priority may be different because it’s final at stake. We still have a day to decide on the lineup and we’ll try to play the best available team to win this game and qualify for the final.”