Ahly coach Mohamed Youssef regrets the goal-scoring chances his players missed during Friday's win at home over Ethiopia's Jimma Aba Jifar, adding that netting more goals would have secured an easier mission for the team's return match.

"The result was a good one, but I had hoped that we would score more goals to secure our qualification early, before the return match," Youssef said in the press conference after the match.

Last year's runners-up Ahly claimed a 2-0 win over their Ethiopian hosts in the first leg of the African Champions League round of 32. The return match will be in Addis Ababa next week.

"We wasted many scoring chances throughout the whole match because of lack of concentration or losing confidence on the part of some players," the Ahly coach explained.

"Other chances were also missed as they weren't treated the right way. This matter needs more training in the coming period," he added.

Ahly is currently led by caretaker boss Youssef, who took charge after the firing of French coach Patrice Carteron following the African Champions League final loss last month.

The Red Devils were within touching distance of winning a record-extending ninth title this year, only to lose to Tunisia's Esperance 4-3 on aggregate after throwing away a 3-1 first-leg lead.

"Since I took charge, I haven’t been able to work on solving all our faults, due to the dense match schedule," Youssef said.

"Now we are fully concentrating on our next league match against Nogoum on Monday. I hope that our injured players get well soon to boost the team in the coming matches," he concluded.

The Cairo giants are eyeing their first Champions League crown since winning the last of their record eight titles in 2013.

Ahly have played just 10 league matches as opposed to 17 played by other teams, due to participating in both the Champions League and the Arab Club Champions Cup (Zayed Champions Cup).

On Sunday, the Cairo giants continued their recent revival in the Egyptian League following a run of poor form, beating Talae El-Geish 2-0. The victory was the third successive league win under caretaker coach Youssef.

Ahly currently lie eighth on the league table with 20 points from 10 matches, 15 behind arch-rivals Zamalek, who have played four more matches.

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