A misfiring Ahly will be desperate to win on Tuesday when they face rookies Kampala of Uganda in the Champions League in Kampala. The eight-time African champions made a disappointing start in the group stages after being held to a goalless draw by Tunisian giants Esperance de Tunis at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab stadium earlier this month. "We are here to win to compensate our draw in the group opener against Esperance," Ahly's coach Hossam El-Badry told a news conference in Kampala on Monday. ''We played a good match against Esperance but we were not lucky against them." The Ahly coach is under-fire due to the team's poor results at the end of this season. Despite guiding the club to their 40th league title this season, El-Badry was criticised for the team's recent unconvincing performances. The team's defeat by Zamalek in the Cairo derby and the stunning loss in the Egypt Cup to Assiouty were intolerable for the club's fans, who found their team struggling at the end of this season. Ahly's difficulties were compounded with the bad start against Esperance in the Champions League group stages, and El-Badry and his players are aiming to bounce back from their disappointing start. Kampala also began their Champions League campaign with a loss, 1-0 to Township Rollers of Botswana. The Cairo giants will be in Uganda without the team's top scorer, Walid Azaro, and Nigerian winger Junior Ajaye, ruled out from the clash due to muscle injuries. In the absence of this duo, winger Walid Soliman is the only offensive key player at the disposal of coach El-Badry, who is relying on his capacities to overcome the Uganda side. "We suffered from several absences, especially in our front line, but I am confident that we will claim a positive result on Tuesday,” he concluded. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
