Al-Hilal boss Simone Inzaghi has heaped praise on his opposite number Georgios Donis, hailing the Greek as a great coach after he steered Saudi Arabia to glory in the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27".
Donis guided the Saudis to the Gulf title last Tuesday, beating the UAE 2-0 in the final. It was Saudi Arabia's first triumph in the competition for 23 years.
Barely 24 hours after that victory, reports surfaced claiming the Saudi Arabian Football Federation planned to sack the Greek and replace him with Spain's Roberto Martinez. The federation quickly denied it.
Inzaghi turned to Donis during the press conference ahead of Saturday's eagerly awaited Clasico between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad at the Kingdom Arena, in the eighth round of the Saudi Roshn League.
Speaking in remarks reported by the Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat", the Italian said: "I congratulate the Saudi national team on winning the Gulf Cup, and I congratulate Donis in particular, because he is a great and wonderful coach, and I also congratulate all the players on the triumph."
Several of his own Al-Hilal stars caught the eye at the tournament, and Inzaghi was keen to single them out. "I am happy with Mohammed Al-Owais's wonderful showing in the Gulf Cup, and he is one of the important players who make the difference," he said.
He added: "Nasser (Al-Dawsari) is a great player and a respected star. Last season he suffered an injury that affected him, but I am happy with the performance he is delivering now."
As for the returning internationals and whether they will feature in the Clasico, he explained: "We will assess their condition after today's training to know the extent of their readiness to play the match."
Attention then shifted to the derby itself. "It is the Clasico of Saudi football, and it is an extremely important match, bringing together the first-placed and second-placed teams, and we are ready for the match," he said.
He continued: "The pressure faces all the teams, and together with the technical staff we will assess the players' output in the upcoming matches, to know how to manage the fixtures amid consecutive matches."
Salem Al-Dawsari was next on the agenda, with the Italian weighing up whether his star man can feature after shaking off the injury that had kept him out since the start of the season.
"Today is the last training session, and after it we will see the readiness of all the players, and Salem (Al-Dawsari) and Theo (Hernandez) took part in training over the past three days," he explained.
He concluded: "Salem Al-Dawsari is very enthusiastic in training after his return from injury, and after training today we will see the possibility of his presence as a starter or on the substitutes' bench."
Al-Hilal go into the clash with Al-Ittihad hunting another win to stay top. They lead the table on 18 points, a single point clear of "Al-Ameed" in second.