Egyptian giants Ahly will have a depleted squad when they take on Stade Malien on Sunday in the Confederation Cup group stage. In-form winger Walid Soliman, key midfielder Hossam Ashour and youngster Mohamed Hani will not make the trip to Bamako due to suspension.. Midfielder Mohamed Rezk and Eslam Roshdi are banned from travelling outside Egypt as they are due to report for military service while Nigerian striker Peter Ebimobowei and winger Karim Bambou are ruled out with injuries. While Ahly may have plenty of options upfront, coach Fathi Mabrouk will have to reshuffle his midfield, especially that Hossam Ghaly is the only natural central midfielder available in the absence of Roshdi and Ashour. Mabrouk may deploy playmaker Abdallah El-Said in a more deep position to fill the void, as he has done in recent games. This is not the only struggle facing the Red Devils as they will have to play the game in daylight in the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk. The game is set to start at 15:30 Mali time and end almost two hours later. Muslims break their fast at 19:00 in Mali. "I will not force my player to give up their fasting during the game, although they have a license to do so as they are traveling. We will hold our last training session at the time of the game so the players can get used to the conditions of the game," Mabrouk told the club's website on Tuesday. The defending champions have made an impressive start to their group stage campaign, hammering Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 two weeks ago. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/134790.aspx
