CAIRO: Promising midfielder Shehab Ahmed will miss Ahly's crunch tie against Ismaili after spraining his ankle few minutes after scoring the equalizer in the 1-1 draw at Gouna earlier this week. Shehab said he faces up to three weeks on the sidelines to mount the problems of Ahly's under-pressure coach Hossam Al-Badri. "I suffered from a sprained ankle against Gouna. I will take the Al-Adha feast days off before beginning the rehabilitation program," he told FilGoal.com on Thursday. Ahly will now have to do without Shehab when they face bitter foes Ismaili in a highly-anticipated league clash on November 21. The 20-year-old burst onto the scene during Egypt's U-20 World Cup campaign on home soil last year. He produced some fine displays with Ahly's senior team this season, scoring the memorable last-gasp goal which helped the Red Devils overcome Libya's Ittihad to avoid an embarrassing Champions League elimination from the preliminary rounds. Ahly fell to a surprise Gouna goal last Tuesday but Shehab, who came on as a second-half substitute instead of off-color midfielder Hossam Ghaly, secured a share of spoils after a fine individual effort. He eluded two challengers on the edge of the area before sending a low shot past Gouna keeper to maintain Ahly's unbeaten league run. Al-Badri has already had to do without several key players, including Mohamed Barakat, Sayed Moawad and Mohamed Abou-Trika, due to injuries. Defending champions Ahly, who eye a seventh consecutive league title, are second in the table with 18 points, three behind leaders and arch-rivals Zamalek.
