BEIRUT: Al Nejmeh of Lebanon will be aiming to bounce back from a one-goal deficit against Shabab Al Ordun when they meet the Jordan Cup holders in the second leg of the AFC Cup semi-finals at Beirut Sports Stadium on Tuesday. Al Nejmeh are desperate to win the tournament after losing in the final two years ago and the semi-finals last year but they trail 1-0 in the tie after Shabab Al Ordun claimed a narrow win in the first leg three weeks ago thanks to an early goal by striker Odai Al Saify. It will be the fourth meeting between the two sides in this year's tournament following their two clashes during the group stage which saw Shabab Al Ordun prevailing 2-0 in Amman while Al Nejmeh claimed a 2-1 win in the return match in Beirut. Al Nejmeh’s hopes of qualifying for a second final in three years have been hampered by the suspension of leading scorer Mohammed Ghaddar, who was hit with a two-game ban after being sent off in the second leg of the quarter-finals against Mahindra United last month. However Serbian coach Nenad Stavric is confident that his side, who recorded a thumping 5-0 victory in their league opener against Shabab Sahel on Saturday, can overcome the absence of Ghaddar and get the necessary result.

The key man could be striker Ali Nassereddine, who has been in impressive form since returning from injury, scoring a brace in Saturday’s victory. "We haven’t prepared well as we have had no chance to train on good pitches since the first leg against Shabab Al Ordun," said Stavric.

"However, I'm optimistic that we can still put up a good performance on Tuesday. Shabab Al Ordun are not much better than us and their main strength is their quick counter attack. "I hope that our other players can fill in the gap created by the absence of our striker Mohammed Ghaddar. "We have to avoid mistakes and try to take advantage of our chances in the game in order to qualify for the final," added the coach of 2004 AFC Cup runners-up Al Wahda of Syria. While his side have the upper hand after their victory in the first leg, Shabab Al Ordun coach Nizar Mahrous is expecting a tricky test from the Lebanese side in Beirut. "The game against Al Nejmeh is a very important tie and it will be tough for us to get a result and qualify for the final," said the Syrian. "We will play according to the options that we have and we will try our best to repeat the win that we had against Al Nejmeh. But they are a good team, having already qualified for the final in 2005 and they are strong when they play at home. "We have some players who are injury doubts including Raafat Mohammed, Shadi Abu Hashhash and Odai Al Saify. But we hope that they will be able to play in order to help us win and qualify for an all-Jordanian final." – PA Sport