The Portuguese coach also gave his players a vote of confidence ahead of the game against Algeria’s Belouizdad in the first round of Group D of the CAF Champions League on Friday.

“We haven’t forgotten that we are the champions of the League and Cup and we are doing our best to return to winning ways,” Ferreira told the pre-game press conference.

“There is not enough time to train well for the games due to the busy schedule, as we said before,” the Portuguese coach added.

“The group stage featured six games and we have to win in the first game as well as win our home games, as the opponents are always tough at their stadiums,” the Zamalek coach added.

The White Knights will kick off their Champions League group stage campaign on Friday when they host CR Belouizdad of Algeria at Cairo stadium.

“We will face the Algerian League leaders and they have more talented players in their squad, so the we will face a big challenge during the game,” Ferreira said.

The 76-year-old Portuguese coach returns at the helm in the game against the Algerian side in a third spell as head coach, less than 10 days after his sacking by the club president due to poor results.

Zamalek’s slim hopes for defending their Egyptian League title were dealt a huge blow after slumping to their fourth league defeat this season when they lost 3-0 to Pharco FC on Monday.

“My message for Zamalek fans is that we don’t feel good due to the recent poor results, but we want to repeat what we did last season when we won the Egyptian League and Egypt Cup titles,” Ferreira added.

“We will do our best to return to winning ways, so I am asking Zamalek fans to stop the criticising chants and return to right track,” the coach said.

“We will play for the fans and we hope they support the team, as tomorrow will be a new era with the supporters,” Ferreira added.

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