Al Nasr coach Jovanovic proud of his wards

Dubai - Al Nasr take on Al Ain at home and Emirates away in their last two fixtures of the seaso

After a slow-burning start, the turn of the year has seen an upturn for Al Nasr with the Bur Dubai club in the midst of a fine run that has seen them climb to third in the Arabian Gulf League.
And Ivan Jovanovic, who has plotted that change, said it wasn't an easy achievement by any means and laid down the credit to the players.
Serbian manager Jovanovic, who guided The Blues to the GCC Champions League in 2014 as well as the President's Cup and the Arabian Gulf Cup in the 2014-15 season, during his three-year spell from 2013 to 2016, took over from Italian Cesare Prandelli in January.
And since then, Al Nasr strung together six wins - against Al Jazira, Dibba, Ajman, Al Dhafra, Al Wasl and Hatta.
Although, the win-streak was halted after The Blues drew goalless against Shabab Al Ahli on Friday night, the 55-year-old was proud of his wards.
"We needed six wins to reach this position and it is not an easy achievement. My players try a lot and they work very hard and, as a coach, I'm very proud of them," said Jovanovic.
Prior to Jovanovic's appointment, Prandelli had overseen just five wins in 12 fixtures, with Al Nasr losing five and drawing two games.
Al Nasr are eyeing an AFC Champions League spot for next season, a third place finish to the League, giving them that.
Meanwhile, Jovanovic, who also oversaw Al Nasr's run to the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League in 2016, said it was a fair result against Shabab Al Ahli.
"Shabab Al Ahli are a good team and it was a difficult game. The weather conditions were difficult and it was hot tonight. So, it was difficult to keep a good pace during the match. I believe, it is a fair result. But if one team had a chance to win, it was my team because we had a lot of chances to score," he said.
"Of course, it was not a good result for us. Shabab Al Ahli are not a team that you can dominate. You have to take advantage if any mistakes they make. We didn't have a difficult situation in our post and we had two or three chances to score and finish the game," added Jovanovic.
Al Nasr take on Al Ain at home and Emirates away in their last two fixtures of the season and Jovanovic said it was important to finish on a high.
"We have a home game against Al Ain and the last game against Emirates. We knew that we have a difficult schedule but we will try to win the remaining games and see where we are," he said.
Meanwhile, Shabab Al Ahli coach Mahdi Ali said that match was a good opportunity to ease players back after recovering from injury.
Senegalese frontman Makhete Diop, who had endured a spell on the sidelines following an injury, came on in the second half.
"The match was a good opportunity to give a chance to players who were coming back from injury. We got Diop to come in, in the second half. I brought him on because he is coming back from injury and he needs some game time. We still have a few games left in the League and hopefully he will be ready for those. We hope to win those games and finish in a good position," said Mahdi Ali.
james@khaleejtimes.com