Al Nasr to put behind Toure incident

The Blue Wave’s Senegalese striker saw red for punching Bani Yas’ Mohamed Jaber on Monday, thereby leaving his 10 team-mates 20 minutes to preserve the point they had at that particular stage.

Mahmoud Khamis of Al Nasr (right) and Bani Yas’ Carlos Munzo during the AGL clash. — KT photo

Dubai: Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic insists the controversy surrounding Ibrahima Toure’s early-season conduct has had no bearing on his players’ preparations as they gear up for their opening home game of the season here against Sharjah on Sunday (Kick-off: 5:35pm).

The Blue Wave’s Senegalese striker saw red for punching Bani Yas’ Mohamed Jaber on Monday, thereby leaving his 10 team-mates 20 minutes to preserve the point they had at that particular stage.

They successfully registered a share of the spoils and Toure duly apologised to all concerned parties, but he has since been slapped with a four-game ban by the UAE Football Association’s (UAEFA’s) Disciplinary Committee. The 28-year-old had already hit the headlines earlier this summer when he arrived late for pre-season training back in July.

Nonetheless, with Toure currently training alone and the matter firmly in the hands of the club hierarchy and not necessarily Jovanovic, Nasr’s Serbian boss believes his squad have been sufficiently focused on the job at hand.

“Toure made a mistake in getting sent-off against Bani Yas, of course,” the 52-year-old admitted.

“Such incidents are always difficult for a team and we try to avoid discord both inside of the dressing room and out there on the pitch.

“We don’t usually have this kind of problem and our focus isn’t on it, so we’re trying to avoid speaking about the matter and just moving on. It’s simply like that. These are discussions that concern everyone except my players in the dressing room.”

Elsewhere, AGL champions Al Ahli and arch rivals Al Shabab shall lock horns in the Al Qusais derby at Rashid Stadium this evening (Kick-off: 8:15pm). The Red Knights will be keen to continue their 100 per cent start to the campaign having downed Sharjah 1-0 away from home on Tuesday night.

Shabab meanwhile are yet to kick a ball after their initial outing with Al Ain was postponed due to the latter’s involvement in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League semi-finals.