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."