Steven Gerrard calls on Al Ettifaq forwards to step up as Moussa Dembele heads injury list

Steven Gerrard has challenged his Al Ettifaq players to fill the goalscoring breach this weekend in the absence of some of the team’s key forwards, as they seek to rebound from this week’s King’s Cup exit.

The Dammam side, seventh in the Saudi Pro League, were eliminated from the last-16 stage of Saudi football’s lead cup competition on Tuesday, when they lost 1-0 in extra-time to Al Nassr.

Ettifaq return to Saudi Pro League duty on Saturday night, where they will play for the first time at the new Ettifaq Club Stadium. They host bottom club Al Raed.

However, Gerrard is without star striker Moussa Dembele, with the former Liverpool captain confirming the Frenchman would be missing “for a few weeks” after undergoing minor surgery on his knee.

Dembele, signed this summer having been released by Lyon, is Ettifaq’s top scorer this season having found the net seven times in eight league matches.

Also, Sweden international Robin Quison continues to be unavailable after missing the Nassr defeat, while Brazilian Vitinho last featured for the club in August.

Demarai Gray, the former Leicester City and Everton winger signed on transfer deadline day, may once again act as the team’s spearhead.

In the build-up to the clash with Raed, who have a solitary victory from 11 league matches, Gerrard said: “Without key players in the final third, it’s challenging at the moment – there’s no Moussa, no Robin Quaison, no Vitinho.

“We asked young [midfielder] Hamed Al Ghamdi to jump up a line on Tuesday. We played Demarai Gray out of position to give us some speed in attack.

“We need other players to step up. When we get players back, we will be more aggressive. We will be more dangerous. Until then, other players need to step up. That starts