CAIRO: Ahly assistant coach Alaa Maihoub sounded his dissatisfaction over the Red Devils 1-1 draw at Ittihad, saying the stalemate is "as unsatisfactory as a loss. The Alexandrian side put an end to Ahly s five-match winning streak after holding them in the Egyptian Premier League on Thursday. Even though Maihoub was unhappy with the result, Maihoub believes that his players are not to blame. We played well and no one eased up, he told the post-match press conference. But a draw is as unsatisfactory as a loss. Ahly had to play without several regular players, with Mohamed Abou-Trika, Mohamed Barakat, Emad Meteb and Moataz Eno sidelined with respective injuries. Consequently, youngsters Ahmed Shorki and Abdullah Farouk were fielded among other benchwarmers. Maihoub is convinced that the fringe players lived up to expectations. The young players proved their worth, and that was the most important thing for us in this game, he added. The absence of the regulars evidently took a toll on us. Speaking of the Cairo derby against Zamalek, Maihoub stressed that Ahly would redeem themselves ahead of the anticipated game on December 8th. Our clashes with Zamalek are always different than any other matches. Our performance will be better especially if some of the injured key figures recover on time, he said. The availability of the injured players for the Cairo derby will be determined on Friday and Saturday.
