Kranjcar hopes to collect full points against Al Faisaly

Dubai: Al Shaab coach Zlatko Kranjcar realises that his team have their task cut out when they take on Jordan's Al Faisaly in their return leg of the opening round of the 2007-08 Arab Champions League in Amman today.

"We have nothing to lose and hence we will go all out against Al Faisaly," coach Kranjcar promised as he left with the team for Jordan last week.

Al Shaab wasted home advantage last month when they let in two late goals against the Jordanian champions. Fadi Lafi opened the scoring in the 50th minute. Seraj Al Tal then added a second, seven minutes from the end, to give Adnan Hamad's side full points.

"We did well to contain such a champion side in our home match," Kranjcar said. "We know them better now, especially after watching them play against Al Wehdat in the AFC Cup semifinal last week.

"We have learnt a lot by watching the Al Wehdat match. I hope we can exploit the weak links and benefit from the same," Kranjcar hoped.

Despite stating his intentions of an all-out attack, the former Croatian national team coach wants to start off with four men in the defence.

He has got three in the midfield through Yousuf Abdullah, Ebrahim Khalil and Nabeel Ebrahim, while Mehrdad Madenshi and Saif Mohammad are expected to assist in attack and defence when needed. That would leave crafty Iranian Ali Samareh as the lone attacking head.

"I realise the need for a strong defence and yet we want to score goals. An away goal is far more precious in competitions such as this," Kranjcar pointed out.

The match will be telecast live on ART Sport 3 from 8pm.