Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club star striker Makhete Diop adds to club's injury woes

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  • Makhete Diop (r) got injured against Al Wahda (PLC).

    Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club’s hopes of salvaging their sorry debut season have received another blow after star Senegalese striker Makhete Diop became the seventh player unavailable to them for the foreseeable future.

    Attempts to weld the merged outfit’s squad together for their inaugural Arabian Gulf League-campaign have been hampered throughout by chronic availability issues.

    Diop, 30, is now set for his second sustained absence of 2017/18 thanks to strained knee ligaments incurred during Friday’s goalless draw at title-chasing Al Wahda. He is projected to be absent for more than a month, robbing coach Mahdi Ali of a figure whose scored a club-leading 13 times in 17 run-outs.

    This frustrating spell of inactivity should coincide with both legs of the Arabian Gulf Cup-semi-finals against Dubai rivals Al Wasl on March 9 and 22. The coveted December 2016 signing from Al Dhafra is also in a race against time to feature in April 12’s President’s Cup quarter-final against Sharjah.

    Of their foreign quartet, only Croatian forward Ante Erceg and South Korean playmaker Moon Chang-jin are presently available.

    Moldova forward Henrique Luvannor has made only eight top-flight-appearances because of a serious ankle problem and versatile UAE right-back Manei Mohammed underwent major knee surgery in October. The quartet of Saeed Ahmed, Saoud Abdurazaq, Abdelaziz Sanqour and Rashed Hassan are absent because of national service.

    Seventh-placed Shabab Al Ahli’s stalemate at Wahda made it just one win in their last 13 AGL fixtures. They next welcome champions Al Jazira to Rashid Stadium on Thursday.

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