Two days after his appointment as Zamalek's new manager, Ehab Galal will start his mission with the White Knights with a tough test against archrivals Ahly in the Cairo derby at Cairo Stadium on Monday. The former ENPPI coach was named Zamalek's new boss on Saturday in succession of sacked coach Nebojsa Jovovic, who left his post due to the team's poor results during his five-month spell at the club. Zamalek, who slumped to their fourth league defeat this season on Wednesday when they lost 2-1 to Talae El-Geish, are fourth on the league table with 28 points, nine points behind leaders Ismaily. Despite his late appointment, Galal said he would take charge of the team during the derby, affirming that he will do his best to help the team earn a positive result against the title holders. A positive result against Ahly would help Galal work without pressure as well as boost the morale of the team's players after a catastrophic half-season that saw the White Knights lose 24 points in 16 games. The 50-year-old coach, who proved his worth with Maqassa last season when he helped the team end second on the league table, dreams to help Zamalek earn their first win against Ahly in the league since 2007. In 2007, Zamalek managed to defeat Ahly in the league when the Red Devils were undone after fielding some fringe players in their starting line-up, shortly after wrapping up a routine league title. Theoretically, Zamalek mission against Ahly will not be easy given the big difference between the two sides in all domains. Despite their shaky performance during the past few weeks, Ahly regained confidence after hammering lowly side Nasr 4-0 on Tuesday. With many talented and experienced players such as Ahmed Fathi, Abdallah El-Said, Walid Soliman and others, Ahly are the logical favourites to earn a win against Zamalek. The title holders will head to Cairo Stadium with their full squad. Coach Hossam El-Badry announced a list of 31 players that saw the absence of injured defender Mohamed Naguib and out-of-favour keeper Sherif Ekrami, so all the team's top guns will be available for the derby. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
