Zamalek will be without eleven first team players when the club take on Asyut Petroleum in the Egyptian league on Friday. Gamal Hamza, Mohamed Aboul-Ella, Ricardo, Osama Hassan and Wissem Abdi are all still out despite being pardoned after the coaching staff omitted them from the first team last month. The players only resumed first-team training last week and none of them is fit enough to take part against Asyut Petroleum. The White Knights will also be without keeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef and international defenders Mahmoud Fathallah and Hani Saied, who are away for pilgrimage. Ghanaian striker Junior Agogo is still serving a three-match suspension, which was imposed by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) following the player's improper gestures in the goalless draw against Petrojet. Midfielder Ayman Abdul-Aziz will also be out of the game. The 30-year-old refused to sit on the bench in Sunday's defeat to Harras Hodoud and consequently, the technical staff decided to exclude and strip him of the team's captaincy. Mostafa Gaafar picked up a minor Achilles injury against Hodoud, and the striker will need a ten-day rest before rejoining the first team. The various absentees forced interim coach Ahmed Refaat to recall Mahmoud Samir and Abdul-Halim Ali to the squad. Zamalek will be hoping to put an end to the dismal league run that saw the team fail to win any of their last six games, losing four and drawing three times in the process. Zamalek squad: Goalkeepers: Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed, Emad Al-Sayed. Defenders: Amr Adel, Karim Zekri, Ahmed Magdi, Amr Al-Safti, Ahmed Ghanem, Mohamed Abdullah, Mohamed Ibrahim, Ahmed Ibrahim. Midfielders: Ahmed Abdul-Raouf, Hossam Arafat, Mahmoud Abul-Razek 'Shikabala', Alaa Kamal, Mahmoud Samir, Hazem Emam jr., Ahmed Al-Merghani. Strikers: Sherif Ashraf, Abdul-Halim Ali, Alaa Ali.
