CAIRO - Under-fire Shikabala said on Thursday he would not be distracted by the barrage of criticism he received of late due to some off-field problems. The Zamalek forward made headlines for the right and wrong reasons during the past few weeks after some excellent performances on the pitch and alleged lack of commitment off it. He produced some dazzling displays in the Egyptian Premier League but a dispute erupted after Egypt coach Hassan Shehata named him in the team's squad for a friendly game against Australia last week. Zamalek doctors said he would not be able to feature in the game due to a back complaint but widespread reports indicated that he feigned injury to skip the match. Shehata was also quoted as saying that Shikabala deliberately wanted to miss out on the match, which Egypt easily won 3-0. "I can't fake injury, everybody knows that I was injured," the 24-year-old, who rarely speaks to the media, told FilGoal.com in a brief interview. "I'm still not fully fit, I need around three weeks to regain full fitness." Shikabala hit more headlines following the end of this saga after being videoed chanting an offensive song against Ahli following Zamalek's last-gasp 1-0 victory over Masri last week. The supporters of Ahli, Zamalek's arch-rivals, hit out at the former PAOK man on internet fan forums and called on their club to file a complaint with the Egyptian FA. Shikabala, who was blamed in the past for some childish acts which landed him in several troubles, said his concentration was not affected by the attack Ahli fans and some sections of the media launched against him. "I assure everyone that those accusations will never distract me. I'm fully concentrated on maintaining my fine displays with Zamalek," he added without commenting further on the matter. Shikabala is Zamalek's top scorer with five league goals, two behind the competition's leading scorer Ahmed Abdul-Zaher of ENPPI. Cairo duo Ahli and Zamalek will clash in an anticipated derby on December 31.
