Tommy Fleetwood remained optimistic that he could topple Aaron Rai at the Abu Dhabi Championship despite describing his compatriot's third-round display as "unbelievable". 

Fleetwood, who has won this DP World Tour event on two occasions in 2017 and 2018, carded a score of 67 in the penultimate round to sit one shot adrift of Rai in the standings. 

The Englishman made an eagle and three birdies to close the gap to Rai, who had raced into a three-shot lead with just two holes remaining.

Fleetwood is in a share of second place on 19-under with Nicolai Hojgaard, and the Ryder Cup star believes he can deliver a final-round flurry to continue his excellent form. 

"I've been saying the whole time, I'm playing good golf at the moment, and I've found myself in this position a lot throughout the summer, but never take it for granted," he said.

"This is what we practise for. These are the times of our lives, and I'm enjoying it very much.

"I think it was a really good day of patience for me. There were a lot of good scores out there, and you're playing with Aaron, who played phenomenally well.

"He was unbelievable in every department."

21 days on from winning in India, Tommy Fleetwood is heading into the final round one shot off the lead in Abu Dhabi.

He's looking to claim back-to-back wins on the DP World Tour for the first time ever.#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries https://t.co/8KwJXcWmEh pic.twitter.com/kwrngjBvqW

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Rai, meanwhile, put himself in contention for a first title on the DP World Tour in five years with a third-round score of 66 to move him to 20 under par for the weekend. 

The only blemish on his scorecard came on 17 when he came through with a bogey, but that was not taking away from his fine display throughout Saturday's play. 

Rai flew out of the traps, turning in 31 thanks to five front-nine birdies. He made two more after the turn to briefly hold a three-shot lead before his late slip. 

The 31-year-old, who already has one Rolex Series win to his name, knows how big an achievement it would be to get another on Sunday.

"This is a huge event. This is one of the biggest events we have on the DP World Tour," Rai said. "To win this week, to have a chance going into the weekend, is great.

"Still a long way to go and a lot of really good players. Yeah, we'll give it our best and see how it comes."

Elsewhere, Andy Sullivan is in a tie for fifth on 17-under, one behind Nacho Elvira, but two ahead of Irishman Shane Lowry and compatriot Jordan Smith.

Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton are among the others, another shot further back, with the leader of the season-long Race to Dubai Standings faltering late in his round. 

The recently crowned grand slam champion surged toward contention with six birdies in his first 11 holes, but his round stalled down the stretch as the wind picked up.

Although he sits six shots behind Rai, McIlroy is well poised to make a charge should the leaders falter on Sunday.

The five-time major winner had scored 68 in the first two rounds but went two shots better on Saturday with seven birdies and just one bogey to move to 14 under.