QSL is a tougher competition this season, says Lekhwiya’s Khalid Muftah

File picture of Lekhwiya’s Khalid Muftah (left) in action during a QSL match.Q: You have a tough game versus Al Rayyan, what are your thoughts?For sure, it won’t be easy as we are confronting a strong team who have demonstrated excellent levels of performance since re-joining the league, they are as yet unbeaten.  However this won’t stop us from working hard and doing our best in order to achieve a positive result and gaining the three points. There is no doubt that the match will be exciting especially in the presence of Al Rayyan’s huge fans, but with the help of God, the technical staff will correct all the team’s mistakes in order to enter this game fully focused.Q: What would you say is the reason for this dip in form, are the players suffering from exhaustion?Sure there is some fatigue, if you take into consideration that lots of key players didn’t rest at all due to the participation of our players in the team during the previous season as well as this season and the AFC Champions League fixtures too.The additional factor of National Team duty for various players hasn’t helped either not to mention that I think the QSL is a tougher competition this season.Q: Is the team capable of defending its league title?The players are determined to accomplish this dream and we will be working very hard, we have done it before and aim to do it again.Q: It is exciting to play against your ex-teammate Soria, what do you think?He is one of the most prominent strikers in Qatar and we have been teammates for the past few years but things are different now and indeed we will work on stopping his dangerous plays as well as Al Rayyan’s offense line.Q: What do you wish for before the commencement of the game?Firstly, I wish for the game to be exciting and satisfies the fans. I hope the fans will enjoy the performance of both teams and indeed I wish we could win and gain the three points.