The Egyptian giants have already been eliminated from the group stage with only four points after five games, but they hope to end their campaign on a positive note.

"We want to win despite the current difficult situation for the team. There have been many problems that affected our recent performance. We have many goals, the most important of which is to regain the players' self-confidence in the coming period," Abdel-Maksoud told the pre-match news conference.

"The win in tomorrow's game is important for the coming technical staff who are set to be named in the coming days," he added.

Abdel-Maksoud was appointed as caretaker manager following the departure of Portuguese tactician Jesualdo Ferreira who couldn't guide the team past the groupstage for second season in a row.

Abdel-Maksoud welcomed the return of captain Mahmoud "Shikabala" Abdel-Razek, who has been declared fit for the game.

"Shikabala's return will boost the squad. He was available for the game against NBE Club in the League Cup, but we preferred to rest him for the Al Merrikh match," he added.

The caretaker manager apologized to the fans for the team's recent struggles and hopes that the Al Merrikh game will be a turning point in their season.

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