Gor not worried by fixture glut ahead of CAF Confed quarters

Gor Mahia deputy secretary general Ronald Ngala has said that the fixture glut ahead of Sunday’s crunch CAF Confed quarter final will not affect the team’s rhythm.

Gor is caught in a fixture glut that will see them play four matches by the time the week comes to an end on Sunday.

On Saturday they beat Kariobangi Sharks 2-1 in a league match in Kisumu and are set to face Nzoia United in Kisumu on Monday afternoon from 4pm and take on Sony Sugar, also in Kisumu, on Wednesday from 4pm before wrapping up the week with a Sunday crunch CAF Confederations first leg quarter finals match against Berkane of Morocco.

Ngala however insists that the lumping of the fixtures will help them clear the backlog of league assignments left even as they bid to make an impression in Africa, adding that coach Hassan Oktay will rotate the squad.

“We have two matches at hand and also the FKF Shield tournament ahead of us. We also need to be level with the rest of the teams in the league, ’’he explained

According to Ngala, coach Oktay is likely to field players who are unlikely to feature in the weekend continental match in the league assignments.

After their win over the weekend against a team that has beaten then in two consecutive meetings prior to the Saturday triumph, Gor Mahia leaped to the top of the log on 38 points with two matches to play. They have so far played 17 times, two shy of 19 played by Batoto ba Mungu, placed second at 36 points.

Should they collect maximum points today in Kisumu, they will stretch their table lead by 5 points and to eight if they beat Sony on Wednesday.

But the main focus will be the Sunday’s quarter final clash against the Moroccans where they will miss the services of four dependable players. Ugandan defender Shafique Batambuze was slapped with a two match ban after getting matching orders against Petro de Luanda at Kasarani.

Captain Haron Shakava will also miss the first leg following back- to- back bookings in this competition with Ernest Wendo getting a three match ban for a straight red card over a serious high boot offence.

CAF also slapped a two match ban on Rwandese striker Jacques Tuyisenge despite picking two back-to-back yellow cards just as Shakava who will only miss the first leg clash.

‘’We have cleared with Sports Kenya who had initially written to us to look for an alternative venue other than Kasarani for our first leg of the quarter finals. The match will now be played at Kasarani on April 7 beginning 4pm,’’ asserted Ngala.

“Our match against Sharks was a tough one but we created many chances but capitalized on two, we were in a good position of scoring more than two goals but I was delighted by the three points,” he said.

“We top the league, this is the spirit I want, we have two matches in hand and I don’t see us dropping soon, if we continue playing the way we are, why not retain the league?’’ he posed