After Jose had made his third substitution, Shawky sustained a knee injury midway through the second half and was barely walking until the final whistle.

While the incident of Shawky’s return to the pitch injured caused the dismay of some pundits, Jose was quick to sing praises of the Egypt international.

“I was very happy with the high spirit shown by Shawky. He continued the match despite his injury and that is a good fighting spirit,” Jose told FilGoal.com.

“I am also happy with Amir Sayoud, who played with great determination after coming on despite his young age.”

Sayoud, 20, was introduced at half time to refresh Ahli’s frontline and prove his worth of a starting role in Jose’s selection.

Jose is, however, left baffled with his side’s lack of firepower in recent games.

“It is irritating me that we fail to convert our chances. In the last two games we had about 19 opportunities to score and we only got two,” the Portuguese added.

Amid the injuries of Emad Meteb and Mohamed Fadl, Jose has been relying on Osama Hosni as a lone striker during the past few games.