"Belal's bad performance shocked me," he told the post-match press conference. "He seemed to be in-form during training and that's why I included him in the starting line-up.

"Changing him only after 20 minutes wouldn't have made sense, so I had to keep him on the pitch in order for him to redeem himself."

Belal, who joined promoted Smouha in the close season from Ahli, has been out of sorts so far this term.

The 30-year-old was taken off in the 54th minute when Ibrahim Abdul-Khalek was introduced, a substitution that didn't add much to Smouha's firepower.

When asked whether he will step down from his role, French tactician Neveu didn't give a definitive answer.

"I'm here to develop the players," he replied.