Playing their first league match for the 2018/2019 season down in Mombasa, Gor Mahia are motivated after their qualification to the CAF Champions League next stage as confirmed by coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno.
Even with the high morale in the squad, the tactician notes that the match against Bandari tomorrow (Saturday) will be a tough duel considering the recent form the opponents are in and the outcome between the two teams when they last played at Mbaraki stadium.
“The match against Bandari will be a tough one and like always, we don’t really expect an easy one. They are the ones who broke our unbeaten record last season and they also finished second with a very good form… but our motivation is high especially after qualifying to next round of CAF Champions League,” coach Zico told the official Gor Mahia website.
Against Bandari, the squad will still be without striker Jacques Tuyisenge and midfielder Kenneth Muguna who got injured when Gor Mahia hosted Nyasa Big Bullets in Nairobi about 10 days ago.
Zico confirmed their absence despite training with the rest of the players today. On the positive side, playmaker Francis Kahata will be available for selection.
“Tuyisenge and Muguna are still not ready although they trained today. We don’t want to rush them back because we have a very important assignment ahead. The good thing is that, Kahata will be available for selection,” added the coach.
In that same upbeat mood, the team captain Haron Shakava added that players are in good shape to stage a good fight against Bandari and they already know the kind of match in store for them.
“Our journey has started and we are in good state of mind… we know it will be a tough one away in Mombasa because our opponents do stage a good fight. We won’t be pushovers and that means, we have a good game in store,” said Shakava.
The crunch tie will kick off at 3pm.