Al Ahly head coach Pitso Mosimane insists he isn’t “making any excuses” but feels National Bank of Egypt SC had enough time to prepare for the encounter on Wednesday evening.

The Red Devils were forced to settle for a point after they were held to a goalless draw by National Bank of Egypt in the Egyptian Premier League.

After the draw, Ahly remain in third place in the league standings with 34 points while National Bank of Egypt SC are eighth with 25 points after 18 games.

“We just came back after a long trip from Algeria. We had Ali Maaloul, Amr El Soulia, and Hamdy Fathy out from today’s match,” Mosimane told his club’s official website.

“Taher as well came after 10 minutes from the start of the second half and told us, ‘I’m finished’. On the other side, our opponent was rested and had enough time to prepare for our game.

“However, it is part of football, we don’t want to make excuses. We had three chances. Maybe, Sherif could’ve scored one. We kept pushing and pushing.

“We took Mohamed El Shenawy out due to him being injured. I tried to refresh the team. I played Wahid, who was very well today. I also played Afsha, Rabia and Sherif as well.”