Current Al Faisaly coach Adnan Hamad with the 2004 AFC Coach of the Year trophy

PA Sport

AMMAN: Defending AFC Cup champions Al Faisaly go into the first leg of this year's final against Al Muharraq from Bahrain hoping to overcome the loss of key duo Khaled Saad and Moayad Salim.

The pair, both of whom also play for the Jordan national team, are suspended for the first leg after receiving their second yellow cards of the competition in their semi-final second leg win over Jordanian compatriots Al Wihdat.

Hussein Ziad is expected to take Saad’s place in the starting line-up while coach Adnan Hamad has a much tougher decision to make as he aims to fill the void left by playmaker Salim.

The Iraqi coach has several options, with Samaan Halasa, Khaled Nimir and Jordan international Siraj Al Tal all in contention for Friday's first leg clash, but he is confident his side can overcome the duo's absence.

“It's a shame that both players will miss the first leg,” said Hamad, a former winner of the AFC Coach of the Year award.

“We have tried our best to find suitable replacements for both of them, but the lack of matches in the run-up to the final might stand in the way of us finding the best players in their positions.”

“However, Al Faisaly are a big team and we won't be affected by the absence of one or two players and we'll try to work well as a team on the pitch to fill in the gaps.”

Al Faisaly, who have won the Jordanian league a record 30 times, prepared for the final by qualifying for the second round of the Arab Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate win against Mauritania's Al Nasr.

But Hamad is concerned about the physical condition of his players due to their recent exertions.

“Lack of match fitness might affect our performance, especially because there were some players who joined the Jordanian national team,” he said.

“But we hope to repeat our performance against Al Wihdat, which qualified us for the final.”

“We have enough information about Al Muharraq and we have watched their two matches against Al Nejmeh in the semifinals and we have taken some notes about their foreign players.”

Al Muharraq coach Carlos Elinho has concerns of his own as Bahrain international defender Ibrahim Al Mishkhas and midfielder Mahmoud Abdulrahman will miss the game, also through suspension.

However, the coach will be relying on his powerful group of foreign players, which is led by the team's top scorer, Brazilian Leandson Dias, and also features Nigerian striker Jaycee John and his compatriot Fatai Babatunde.

Elinho, who arrived with his side in Amman on Wednesday, is hoping to maintain his side's unbeaten run on the road in the AFC Cup, a streak that has seen Al Muharraq win three and draw one of their games away from home so far.

“We have come to Amman only to win,” said Elinho. “If we don't come with a winning mentality, it might have negative results on the team.”

“We have watched Al Faisaly's two matches against Al Wihdat in the AFC Cup semifinals and against Al Nasr in the Arab Champions League. They are a good team at home and they play in an organised way.”