Veteran Ahmed Hassan believes his Zamalek side face a difficult task to beat Berekum Chelsea in Saturday's CAF Champions League opener.Â
The Egypt captain says the Whites lack the requisite match fitness to play against the dethroned Ghana Premier League champions at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Hassan-who will miss the tie due to suspension-admits they are not in top form for their first assignment.
"First of all we didn't have a chance to play many warm-up games and the players are lacking match fitness,'' the 37-year-old told FilGoal.com.
"This will be our opening match of the season and it comes against a very strong team. We must respect Chelsea and it is not easy to start against them.
"We will also be missing a number of players due to suspension, but hopefully we can overcome all these issues if we remained focused."
Zamalek, five-time winners of the continent prestigious club competition, eliminated 2012 CAF Super Cup winners MAS Fes 4-0 on aggregate.
Source: MTNfootball.com