The military club are on the verge of exiting Africa's secondary competition at the group stage for the third consecutive season.

They lie at the bottom of Group B with two points, seven behind leaders FUS Rabat of Morocco and five adrift of Tunisia's Sfaxien with two matches to go.

The group winners and runners-up will qualify for the Confederation Cup semi finals.

Hodoud claimed their first Egyptian Premier League win of the season after beating Gaish 2-1 to receive a much-needed boost after a barren run.

They will face high-flying Masri in their next league game before playing Sfaxien away from home next month.

"The players were in a very good form against Gaish. I hope that they will replicate that display against Masri," coach Al-Ashri, under whom Hodoud won the Egyptian Cup title in 2009 and 2010, told FilGoal.com.

"If we play well against Masri, we will travel to Tunisia with a high morale.

"When I was talking to the players, I stressed that our hopes of reaching the Confederation Cup semis remain alive."

The Confederation Cup has evaded Egyptian teams since it was formed in 2004 after the African Cup Winners' Cup and the CAF Cup were merged.