ALEXANDRIA: Ittihad will be without a number of key defenders when they face Arab Contractors in the Egyptian Premier League on Wednesday.

The Alexandrians suffered a double blow as skipper Shadi Mohamed pulled a hamstring and center-half Youssef Abdel-Rahim injured his knee against Petrojet last week.

We have a big problem in defense because Shadi and Abdel-Rahim were injured and Ibrahim Al-Shayeb is still unfit, Ittihad boss Taha Basri told FilGoal.com.

Defender Abdel-Rahim, who missed a penalty in Ittihad s 3-1 defeat at Petrojet, could face a long spell on the sidelines as he might have damaged the cruciate ligament.