“We benefited a lot from Le Havre’s 2-1 defeat to Grenoble last week as we jumped to third place,” the Egypt international told FilGoal.com in a phone interview.

“This week, we will play at Le Havre, and a victory over there will give us a six point lead over them and move us closer from promotion to Ligue 1.”

Abou-Mosallam said that Strasbourg coach Jean-Pierre Papin has stressed to the players the importance of Friday’s game.

Strasbourg had snatched third place from Le Havre last week after beating Creteil 1-0 in a hard fought game that saw them reach the 49-point mark.

“The win over Creteil was very important,” said the firmer Ahli player. “It was very tough also because we had to play almost the entire second-half with 10 players after Jeff Strasser was sent-off.”

The 26-year-old player said that coach Papin was very impressed by his performance in that game.

“Papin praised my performance after the match and told me I was one of the best players on the pitch,” Abou-Mosallam said.

Abou-Mosallam also pointed out that his relationship with the former French international was very strong, noting that Papin had a lot in common with former Egypt skipper Hossam Hassan.

“He (Papin) looks so much like Hossam Hassan, even when he talks, it’s like I’m talking to Hossam, only in French,” he said.