Sepahan seek to make amends

AFCCL - Sepahan coach Luka Bonacic has set his sights on starting his side's AFC Champions League campaign with a win over Syria's Al Ittihad as the club looks to compensate for the expulsion of compatriots Esteghlal from the competition.

The Tehran giants were removed from after failing to register their squad ahead of the Asian Football Confederation's deadline and, as a result, Sepahan are the nation's only representative in a tournament in which Iranian teams have, historically, struggled.

Croatian Bonacic, however, is under no illusions as to the task awaiting his side against Al Ittihad.

"The Syrians will be tough nuts to crack and we won't underestimate them, even though we are playing at home," he said.

"Fortunately everything is okay and we are following our pre-determined plans. We plan to watch Al Ittihad's recent games on DVD to analyse their weak points as well as their abilities.

"I'm not going to anticipate the result but, it is our opening game and our aim is to send Al Ittihad home without a point. We'll be doing our best to achieve this, for sure."

Sepahan will be missing former Bochum midfielder Moharram Navidkia, who is excluded due to injury, leaving much of the burden of responsibility on Mohammed Nori and national team defender Hadi Aghily.

Al Ittihad go into the game with no injury or suspension worries but coach Hussain Afash is not unestimating the difficulties facing Al Ittihad in Group D, which also features Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabian champions Al Shabab.

“I think that our group is very hard, especially because the football level in Syria is different from other countries," he said. "We have prepared very hard and I think that we had enough time to prepare very well.

“We gained good experience from playing in the previous tournament and we will be aiming this year to compete for the group ticket. However, it will not be easy because we are in a tough group with the UAE, Iran and Saudi Arabia champions.”