BEIRUT: Last year's AFC Cup finalists Al Nejmeh will face a stern test on Tuesday when they host the first leg of their 2006 AFC Cup semi-final clash against Bahrain's Muharraq at Sports City in Beirut.

The match will be only the third at the helm of Al Nejmeh for Algerian coach Mahmoud Qandouz, whose first two games in charge of the club were the home and away clashes with Selangor of Malaysia in the AFC Cup quarter-finals.

After a 1-0 win in Kuala Lumpur, a goalless draw in Beirut was enough to take the Lebanese side through to the semi-final stage.

But once again Qandouz will be deprived the services of Al Nejmeh captain Moussa Hjeij and defensive duo Faisal Antar and Mohammed Halawi for the third consecutive match.

And to make matters worse, the Algerian admits to being in the dark about the Bahraini club.

"To be honest I haven't seen Muharraq but as long as they are in the semifinals, this means they are good," Qandouz said. "I've talked to several people who know Muharraq and they told me that they are a powerful team."

"But no matter who they are, our match will be tough and the players will play seriously and we will be looking for a victory at home on Tuesday."

"In the last match against Selangor our players were tired, but now they have recovered from the fatigue and are ready to play and give the maximum. We have prepared them very well for this match."

Meanwhile, Muharraq coach Carlos Elinho has made some changes to the squad that lost 1-0 at home against Oman"s Al Nasr in the second leg of the quarterfinals last week.

The former Al Ahli Qatar coach has dropped striker Jaycee John and replaced him with young Bahraini forward Abdullah Omar after he was left unimpressed by the performance of the Nigerian in the defeat to Al Nasr.

Like Qandouz, Elinho admits to knowing little about his semi-final opponents.

"We don"t know anything about Al Nejmeh but we have seen some video tapes of their matches and they look like a good team," he said.

Meanwhile, Muharraq team manager Jamal Mohammed added: "The match will be very hard, especially as Al Nejmeh will be playing at home. The date of the match is during the holy month of Ramadan and this could affect the players."