Ismaili's opening Egyptian Premier League victory over Petrojet helped boost the morale after the team made a dreadful start to their season, coach Mark Wotte said. A worse-than-expected start for a depleted Ismaili side saw them lose two consecutive games in the African Champions League group stage. They opened their Group B campaign with a 1-0 home defeat by Algeria's JS Kabylie before slumping to a last-gasp 2-1 loss to bitter rivals Ahli at Cairo Stadium. The defeats dealt a major blow to their hopes of booking a semi-final berth but they picked themselves up to overcome Petrojet 1-0 on Friday. "Claiming all three points in the first game was very important," Dutchman Wotte, who took over at the club in the close season following the resignation of Emad Soliman, said. "This win will lift the morale of the players because they were partially affected by the Champions League defeats." Ismaili midfielders struggle to feed the strikers, with the absence of creative trio Hosni Abd-Rabou, Abdullah Saied and Omar Gamal taking its toll on their displays. Petrojet had the upper hand in the first half and wasted several clear-cut chances to open the scoring. But Ismaili improved in the second period and managed to score the winner in the 71st minute via a fine individual effort from Nigerian striker Ndubuisi Godwin. "Any team in the world can not cope with the loss of three influential players like Saied, Gamal and Abd-Rabou. We are doing our best to deal with that injury crisis," Wotte added. Playmaker Saied is expected to return to full training next week after recovering from a foot injury but long-term absentees Gamal and Abd-Rabou are still nursing serious knee injuries. Ismaili last won the league in 2002 after beating off competition from Ahli. They have not won any title since then.
