"I’m happy with the victory, but I’m unhappy with the players’ performance during the match," Jose told reporters in a press conference after the match.

"I know that the players were fatigued after playing a host of consecutive matches, this had its impact on their general fitness," he added.

The Portuguese coach insisted that he will now concentrate on the team’s two postponed matches against Ismaili and Asmant Assiut before starting a complete reassessment of the players.

Jose also took the chance to clarify his recent bust-up with the local media and insisted that he respects all the local referees and coaches and said that some journalists try to put him in a tight spot given his success with Ahli.

On the other hand, Harras El-Hodoud boss Helmi Toulan complained about the level of refereeing during their match with Ahli and revealed that he sent an official complaint to match commissioner Ahmed Badawi.

"We lost the match after Mohamed Halim was sent off at the beginning of the second-half, Ahli are a strong team, I couldn’t have kept up with them with only 10 players," Toulan said.