CAIRO - Al-Ahly are hoping to beat El-Geish Thursday, in the 12th week of the Egyptian Premier League, with the aim of closing the gap on the leaders. Ahly are now in third place with 23 points and a postponed fixture against Wady Degla, while El-Geish are in 13th with only nine points. Red Devils striker Emad Meteab and defender Sherif Abdel-Fadil are ruled out of the clash because of injury. "Although the team are suffering from many injuries, our substitutes are just as good as the regular players," Sayyed Abdel-Hafiz, the team's manager, said ahead of the clash. The game, which will be at 7:15pm, will witness the return of defender Wael Gomaa, left-winger Sayyed Moa'wad and goalkeeper Sherif Ekrami. After this local game, Ahly will travel to Doha in Qatar to play a friendly against the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on Saturday. Zamalek drop points Zamalek coach Hassan Shehata was disappointed that his team could only manage a 1-1 draw against Petrojet, stressing that the players didn't perform well. The 12th week of the Premier League kicked off on Tuesday with Zamalek drawing with Petrojet, and Police Union stunning El-Dakhlia 1-0. "I am not satisfied with the way the team played," said Shehata after the game, stressing that the coaching staff will have to do something about this. "The players always make the same mistakes, allowing the opponents to score. If this continues, it could cost us titles.” "We need to buy some new players for certain positions during the winter transfer window if we want to win the League," Shehata added. Zamalek are now in fourth place with 20 points, while Petrojet remain in 12th on ten. The match was played in Suez with Benin striker Razak Omotoyossi scoring for the White Knights, while Petrojet netted through striker Marwaan Mohssen. Although the game witnessed a red card for Petrojet captain Ahmed Shaaban in the 77th minute, Zamalek failed to capitalise on this. Zamalek have now dropped seven points this season, having lost to Police Union and also drawn with El-Geish. After the game, the Zamalek coaching staff decided on non-stop training in preparation for Saturday's postponed clash against Wady Degla. "There's still a long way to go in the League and we must grab as many points as we can to stand any chance of snatching the title," Shehata explained. Zamalek board member Ibrahim Youssef said that Shehata's excessive confidence was to blame for the draw. "Shehata dealt with the game badly. One of the problems was wrong substitutions, while divided the team into defence and attack," Youssef told the Modern Sports TV channel after the game. "He pulled off strikers Razak Omotoyossi and Ahmed Gaafar and brought on striker Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' who is not fit to play alone," he explained. Last week, Zamalek have announced that the coaching staff have accepted the apology from team striker Amr Zaki, who failed to turn up at the club for training for several weeks, due to a dispute over unpaid wages with the club's former board. "Coach Hassan Shehata accepted Amr Zaki's apology during a meeting, but the final decision is in the hands of the club's current board, headed by Mamdouh Abbas," assistant coach Ismail Youssef said, pointing out that Zaki's apology is a good step towards repairing his damaged relations with the club. Shehata explained that the changes he made were counteracted by the changes made by the opponents' coach who strengthened their defensive line. "We dominated the second half, but still couldn't win," he pointed out. Taha Besri, the Petrojet coach, expressed his satisfaction at the result, praising his players' performance, especially after Shaaban's red card. "One point against a big team like Zamalek is like a victory," Besri said. Meanwhile, Police Union beat El-Dakhlia, thanks to a goal from midfielder Mohamed el-Fayoumi. Police Union are now in second place with 24 points, while El-Dakhlia in 19th on five points. The Egyptian Premier League 12th week results: Petrojet 1-1 Zamalek Police Union 1-0 El-Dakhlia
