Baniyas manager Isaila confident his team can maintain winning streak against Al Nasr

They face Dubai club at home on match day 19 of the Adnoc Pro League

Soufian Rahimi, left, created an assist and scored in Al Ain’s 2-0 win over Baniyas at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Friday, February 18, 2022. Photo: PLC

Baniyas manager Daniel Isaila believes momentum can help them to extend their winning streak to three when they meet Al Nasr at home in the Adnoc Pro League on Thursday.

He is upbeat about his team’s recent form, insisting they are going through a “good phase”.

Baniyas come off the back of victories over Al Dhafra and Ajman, both by 2-0 margins, after narrow losses to Al Ain and Al Wahda – the top two teams in the league.

“Obviously, we expect a strong match against a big team like Nasr,” the Romanian manager said ahead of match day 19 in the league.

“Nasr have quality in every department but we are also going through a good phase and we want to maintain our winning ways going into this game. We want to present a strong game in front of our fans.

“We have prepared well and have worked on the areas we need to improve and, hopefully, [we can] get that win to improve our position in the league table.”

Baniyas are tied with Nasr on 25 points in seventh but are ahead of the Dubai club on goal difference.

Nasr’s record has been inconsistent, with one good performance followed by a disappointing one.

In the second half of the season, they have lost 1-0 to Ajman, defeated Al Jazira 2-0, been beaten 4-0 by Khor Fakkan and bounced back to beat bottom team Emirates 4-0.

“Those results reflect there are no weak teams in the league,” Isaila said. “Any team can win on any given day and that’s what happened to Nasr in their last four games.

“Our record isn’t much different to Nasr. We have had the same kind of results from the start of the league. No team can afford to make mistakes that cost you the match.”

Isaila has a selection dilemma with injuries to forward Ahmed Shehda and defenders Hussain Abbas, Salem Al Balushi and Brazilian Joao Victor.

In the late game on the night, Sharjah will look to consolidate their third position when they host Ajman.

On Friday, Jazira take the long road to Al Orooba, Dhafra too will be on road to Kalba and Emirates play Khor Fakkan at home.