Dubai: Title favourites Al Ain and Al Wahda will be looking at consolidating their positions in the top two spots as the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) resumes with Week 13 this week.

After 12 rounds, Al Ain are at the top of the standings with 28 points chased down by Al Wahda with 26 points, while Al Wasl slipped down to third with 25.

Al Nasr and Al Jazira are tied with 17 points while Shabab Al Ahli Dubai are in sixth place with 16 points following just three wins, seven draws and a couple of defeats.

On Sunday, Al Ain will be hosting second from last Hatta, while tricky Ajman will make the trip to Al Ghusais for their encounter against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai.

Al Wasl, who surrendered their top spot after going down 1-3 against Al Ain in Round 11, will be eager to make amends as they make the long journey across to Ras Al Khaimah for their match against Emirates Club, while Sharjah will be looking forward to maximum points at home as they face cellar-placed Al Dhafra in Monday’s games.

On Wednesday, both the Abu Dhabi clubs will be in action with Al Wahda hosting fourth-placed Al Nasr and defending champions Al Jazira up against Dibba.

Gamely hanging on to their mid-table spot, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai coach Mahdi Ali is hoping his reserves will carry forward the good work being put in by the team against visiting Ajman. Ali’s biggest concern while turning towards the business part of the league is a spate of injuries to key players.

“One of my wishes at this time is to have all my players so that I can at least field a full playing eleven,” Ali said.

“There are simply too many injuries and we have been losing at least one player per match. This is not a good sign. But it also means that the rest of the players in the squad need to respond and show us what they are capable of in taking this team forward,” he added.

Esmail Al Hammadi provided the latest scare as the playmaker didn’t even train with the team last week. He joins a long injured list for Shabab Al Ahli Dubai including Makhete Dioup, Majid Hassan, Hassan Ebrahim and Saud Abdul Razzaq.

Ali’s debut with his new club ended in a 0-3 loss against Al Wasl on December 8. But Shabab Al Ahli Dubai did well to find some sort of stability with the club winning their next three matches to go to the top of Group B in the Arabian Gulf Cup.

“Since I took over we have won four [including one match in the President’s Cup] and have one draw. But this is not where we want to be as a team. We are far from satisfied as sixth is not the position we would want to be. It means we have to work even harder and we can do better,” the coach observed.

“Playing Ajman is always tricky, but I trust my players to go all out to get the three points. I think the fans deserve at least this after so many draws,” Ali said.