Qatar SC need to lift game to stay in top flight

Languishingat the basement of the QNB Stars League, Qatar Sports Club will have toget their act together soon if they are to stay in the domestic topflight.With just one win from seven matches, they will become theprime candidates for relegation if they don’t notch up a few wins in thecoming few weeks.They have a great chance today to kick-start theirrevival when they take on equally threatened Al Khor in round eight ofthe tournament today.The fact they will be playing on their own homeground would therefore be a psychological boost for them. A victoryover Al Khor combined with the possibility of Al Markhiya losing to AlAhli will help them jump to 10th spot  and give them a platform fromwhere they can proceed further with some fresh focus.“We badly need avictory and three points to move up the ladder. This is a goodopportunity to do it, and that too, in front of home fans, Qatar SCcoach Gabriel Calderon told reporters.“The two QSL Cup fixtures in between the league’s seventh and eighth rounds helped us assess our own strengths and weaknesses.”One of Qatar Sports Club’s weaknesses has been their poor finishing , which Calderon is keen to solve soon.“We’vea big problem to rectify. Our scoring rate has to be improved. Lack offinishing is our biggest concern. We only have to score goals. Overall,our game is good and I’m satisfied with our players’ performance. Weneed a good striker to deliver the goods.“We’ll sorely miss our mainstriker Michael Babatunde in this match due to suspension as he hadpicked up two yellow cards during the match against Al Rayyan in thelast round. This may be a good chance for other strikers to provethemselves. I just wish they come good when it matters the most.“Myplayers are showing good spirit in training, but that isn’t reflectingon our results. We’re the side which has lost the most number of games(six) and conceded the most number of goals (18),” he said.Al Khor’s new coach Nassif al-Bayawi, meanwhile, is keen to make a good first impression.“Firstof all, I’m no stranger to Qatar football having assisted French coachBernard Simondi at Al Kharaitiyat. I’m happy to be back coaching in thiscountry and I look forward to my first league match, against Qatar SC,with a lot of hope. We’re definitely looking forward to a positiveresult,” he said.“Qatar SC are the bottom side, but we aren’t takingthem lightly. We’re just above them in the table. We’re coming fromfour straight defeats in the league and the players’ morale is very low.My immediate priority is to boost their morale and, hopefully, you’llsee a different Al Khor in the future games.”Fourth-placed Al Sailiya, meanwhile, are hoping to improve further when they take on Al Gharafa today. “It’llbe a tough game as Al Gharafa are a highly-unpredictable side. They’veexhibited two levels in their game — excellent and medium. In somematches, they play excellently and in some other they put up averageperformances,” said coach Sami Trablesi“On our part, we’ve three orfour players back from national duties. We’ll try to stay fully focusedand pull off another positive result. Our players are showingconsistency in their performance and we’re approaching each match withvictory in mind.“The co-operation and team spirit among my wards isworth mentioning and that reflects on our results. Before the seasonbegan, we had worked a lot on improving our game and that’s nowrewarding us. The team is getting better after every outing,” addedTrablesi whose team have won five of their seven matches and have 15points.Al Sailiya’s consistency is a source of worry for Al Gharafa coach Jean Fernandez. “AlSailiya are a well-organised side. Their local as well as professionalplayers are a good mix. And they’ve perhaps the second-best attack linein the tournament. We’ve a lot of respect for them,” said Fernandez.“AlSailiya are becoming stronger after every match and we’ve to be reallywary of them. They’ve just entered the top four on the back of somestrong displays.”Al Gharafa are sixth in the standings and Fernandez is clear that his forwards need to up their game a notch.“Iexpect my players to put a memorable performance. I need moreefficiency from our forwards. We’ve scored only eight goals from sevenmatches, so our scoring rate has to be improved. It’s true that we’re insixth position in the standings, but we just have to score more andmore goals. Otherwise, it’s difficult to win matches,” he added.Today’s matchesAl Gharafa vs Al Sailiya, 4pm Al Markhiya vs Al Ahli 4pmQatar SC vs Al Khor 6pm.