Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are set to be without dangerman Lee Dong-gook for Saturday's AFC
Champions League final against Qatar's Al Sadd.
However, the Korea Republic striker is set to take his place on the bench at Jeonju World Cup
Stadium.
Lee has scored nine goals in the competition this season, but missed last week's semi-final
second leg win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad due to a calf injury and Jeonbuk coach Choi Kang-
hee has confirmed the AFC Champions League's top scorer is short of match fitness.
Jeong Shung-hoon, who has scored one goal in the competition this season, is again set to lead
the line for a Jeonbuk side who will also be without captain Cho Sung-hwan and Croatian striker
Kruno Lovrek due to suspension.
"I am sad that some of the players cannot play, but we have trained well this week and we are
confident and will look to do our best," said Choi, who masterminded Jeonbuk's 2006 AFC
Champions League success.
"Lee Dong-gook was injured, but he has recovered. The only problem is he has lost some fitness
as he has not been able to train fully this week. He wants to play, but he will be on the substitutes
bench and I will have to decide if he is ready to play during the game.
"We have had some time since our last league game so there will be no problem with the overall
fitness levels of the team. We had a league game against Chunnam Dragons last Sunday and not
all of the players played so we have had time to rest, so I am not worried about the fitness of the
players."
Kim Sang-sik is expected to drop back into the centre of the Jeonbuk defence in place of Cho,
with China's Huang Bowen in contention to fill the void in midfield.
Jeong, who scored for Jeonbuk against Arema Indonesia in the group stage, is set to play in a
lone striker role, but the 32-year-old striker is set to be supported by a potentially explosive
midfield which includes Brazilian Eninho, who has scored four goals in his last three AFC
Champions League outings to take his personal tally to six in the competition this season.
"Cho and Lovrek can't play, but that is not important. The team has prepared well for the game
and we will try and produce a good performance," said Jeong, who has made eight appearances
for Jeonbuk in the competition this season.
"I have to play in place of Lee Dong-gook, but I am fit and have prepared well for the match, so I
will try and fight and play my best.
"I do not always play, sometimes I am a substitute, but in the final I will try my best for my
team."
Al Sadd, meanwhile, are boosted by the availability of captain Wesam Rizik and forwards Abdul
Kader Keita and Mamadou Niang as Jorge Fossati's side bid to become the first qualifiers to win
the continental title.
Senegalese striker Niang and Ivorian forward Keita missed Al Sadd's semi-final second leg
against Korea's Suwon Samsung Bluewings last week due to suspension, while Rizik suffered an
injury in the first leg which forced the midfielder out of the return fixture.
But with only Mesaad Al Hamad ruled out after the midfielder suffered a broken nose during the
ill-tempered semi-final first leg win over Suwon, Uruguayan coach Fossati is confident Al Sadd
can overcome their underdog status to claim a first continental title since winning the 1989 Asian
Club Championship.
"The game will be very tough, but from my point of view the two teams that arrive in the final of
the AFC Champions League deserve to be congratulated because to get to the final is very
difficult and both teams deserve a lot of credit," said Fossati, who was in charge of the Al
Shabab side which beat Jeonbuk in last year's quarter-finals.
"Nobody gave us a chance in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals and we know that Jeonbuk are
favourites, but we are confident about our chances.
"We respect our opponent because we know they are a good team, but we have a lot of
confidence in our players' ability to win."