Al Ahli striker Ivan Toney aims to outscore Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Pro League

England international has three goals already this season and is out to net more in Thursday's derby against Al Ittihad

Ivan Toney, left, celebrates after scoring for Al Ahli. Photo: Saudi Pro League

Ivan Toney says his aim this season is to score more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo, starting with Al Ahli's Saudi Pro League derby against Al Ittihad.

The England international, who moved to the kingdom from Premier League club Brentford in the summer, has already notched three goals in six games in his debut SPL campaign.

And he is out to increase his tally in the Jeddah derby as Ahli travel to King Abdullah Sports City to take on Laurent Blanc's Al Ittihad on Thursday.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who scored a new league record of 35 goals last season, has so far netted six times for Al Nassr in this season's competition.

The Portugal star, who missed a penalty as Nassr fell to a shock 1-0 defeat to Al Taawoun in the King’s Cup in midweek, is also in derby action this week as his side take on Riyadh rivals Al Hilal at home on Friday.

Asked ahead of Ahli's clash with Ittihad whether he was going to score more goals than Ronaldo in his first season in Saudi Arabia, Toney responded: “Hopefully more! To be fair I’m competing with myself really, I don’t watch what other people are doing.

“Obviously, Ronaldo is a top player, but I concentrate on myself and what I do best.

“I always set targets for myself and hopefully I can hit them. [Media] ask me what my target is but it doesn’t come out. It only comes out when I’ve hit it come the end of the season! Hopefully, I can keep playing well, score goals and help the team to win games.”

On taking part in his first derby game in Saudi Arabia, the striker said: “We know it’s going to be big. On a personal level it is going to be my first one. I’m excited, I know derbies from my previous clubs but I’m sure it’s nothing like being here, how much it means to everyone and hopefully we can win.

“I think it’ll be similar [to other derbies], you know there’ll be tackles flying in but the fact is we’re fighting for what colour we make Jeddah. Obviously, it’s special to everyone and special to the fans, obviously with them being so close we want to make Jeddah green.

“You’ve got to do the work. It’s all well and good coming up against these players but we’re not here to idolise these players, we’re here to beat them, and hopefully we can do that.

“Obviously we have to aim to win the league. If I was saying we’ll just try and get top three, what’s the point in playing the games? We want to win the league, end of story.”

Manager Matthias Jaissle's Al Ahli are currently eighth in the SPL table with 11 points from eight games.

They trail leaders Al Hilal by 13 points, while Ahli's local rivals Ittihad are in second place on 21 points.