Maccabi Tel Aviv will be back in TASE Premier League action tonight at 20:00 in an away fixture against Ashdod SC and look to get back to winning ways after the goalless draw against Hapoel Hadera in the previous round.

League action already got underway on Saturday and Maccabi go into the clash in second place in the standings with 14 points from six matches, behind leaders Hapoel Beersheba, who have 17 points from seven after their 2-1 win over Hapoel Kiryat Shmona three days ago. A win at Ashdod’s municipal stadium will put both teams on equal points before their big clash next weekend at Bloomfield.

Going into the game, Maccabi coach Vladimir Ivic talked about the state of his squad and about Omer Atizili’s fitness and said: “He has been working with us in the past few weeks and now we will need to make a decision if he can be in the squad. I hope that he will be ready, but if not for this game, then we will have him for the next.”

Definitely out of the squad will be Dor Peretz, who was injured while training with the Israel squad ahead of last week’s game against Latvia.

Ivic said of Monday’s opponents: “We know that Ashdod are going to be tough rivals, particularly when we will be playing there. This is a team that can beat any opponents when they are at home. They have good, speedy players in attack and a good creative unit, but certainly, our objective will be to take all three points. We are expecting a difficult match.”

Midfielder Eyal Golasa, who is back from a long injury layoff, has talked about his own period on the sidelines and said: “I have tried as much as possible to keep out of sight and have worked very hard. I hardly saw my wife and the girls and it has been a tough time being out of action for almost a year but you try to gain strength from other things. Certainly, the club and the players have helped me and I am so pleased to have got through this. I feel great.”

For their part, Ashdod have had a reasonable start to their league campaign and lie ninth in the standings with seven points but in their last four outings, they have lost once and ended three other matches in draws.