Dubai Club eyes further climb in standings

Though nearly assured of a second straight year in the UAE Football League, Dubai Club is taking nothing for granted as they eye a more resurgent performance in the last three rounds of the competition. "It has been a very tough time for us, but hopefully things can only get better from now on," Dubai Club's coach Jose Alves Dos Santos told Gulf News after his team had pulled away from the relegation zone with a 6-4 thrashing of bottom-placed Al Dhafrah on Friday night. Since taking over at the beginning of the year, the young Brazilian coach has overseen wins over heavy-weights such as Al Ahli, Al Ain and Sharjah taking his team into ninth position with 23 points to their credit. "Three more games and nine points to win and that is our goal," Dos Santos revealed. "There is no turning back for us now that we have found our rhythm as a team. I don't want single points from our matches, we will work hard to win all our matches," he promised. The Brazilian, however, admitted that he would need to further bolster his defence line after his side let in two late goals even though Al Dhafrah were playing with ten men on the pitch. "This is an issue we need to sit down collectively as a team and discuss. I am sure such a thing will not be repeated in the next three matches," Dos Santos said. The Dubai coach agreed with Al Dhafrah coach's contention that he does not have stars at his disposal. "But at Dubai Club we have a fantastic team that is willing to help each other achieve our goal," Dos Santos noted. "Considering various factors this was our best team and they all knew they had to deliver as a unit…and they did," he added. Al Dhafrah coach Mohammad Kwid brought in recently to stem the rot at the Abu Dhabi club, laid the blame solely on the upheaval being faced by his new club. "We won't give up till the end. There are three more matches and we will be going all out for maximum points," he said. "I think the players are finding the problems within the club too much to handle at the moment. But I am confident they will do well when we play Al Ahli in the Gulf Clubs Cup [on May 23]," Kwid promised.