Struggling sides City Stars, Stima face off in Kisumu

Kenya Premier League new boys Nairobi City Stars will go all out for victory against Western Stima when the two sides meet at the Moi Stadium Kisumu this afternoon in their midweek fixture.

After a recent poor run of form, Simba wa Nairobi found their scoring gear to overcome Zoo Kericho 2-1 in their last outing and will seek inspiration from those exploits in this afternoon’s high-octane encounter with struggling Western Stima.

Like Stima, City have not performed well and find themselves in the lower end of the table, at position 13 on 10 points from 11 matches. From these assignments they’ve  registered just two wins.

Stima on the other hand are deep into the relegation fight at position 17 with one win and four draws from 11 matches.

The club has been dogged by match-fixing scam, leading to a purge that saw head coach and up to 13 players leave the club.

Meanwhile City’s tcoordinator Sammy Otieno has reaffirmed they will settle for nothing short of victory as they bid to turn a corner from their recent struggles in which they had gone for an eight-game winless streak before defeating Zoo Kericho last weekend.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on the sidelines of the Moi Stadium in Kisumu after putting his charges through their paces earlier today, a buoyed Otieno said he is confident the boys will register their second consecutive victory.

“We will go for victory against Stima. We know they are a very good side that is currently struggling but if you look at our past performances you will realize we have not been doing well too.

“Our aim at the moment is to win our next two matches so that we can ascend to respectable positions on the log.”

Otieno says they will have to learn to win ugly even in games where they are not playing well if they are to stage a good show towards the end of the first leg.

“After Stima we also aim to win against Mathare who are our next opponents.

“If we manage to get results in these games we will reduce the pressure on our shoulders in the last three games of the first leg where we will play AFC Leopards, league leaders Tusker, and champions Gor Mahia.”

He attributes their recent struggles to lack of squad depth, a problem he says they have swiftly solved by recruiting new players.

“We had problems at the fullback and striking positions. We acquired two fullbacks. Kevin Okumu returned from Wazito on loan and we also signed Bolton Omwenga to cover for both flanks.

He also hinted they will be active in the market to find a marquee striker to complement talisman Ebrima Sanneh.

Wednesday Fixtures

Western Stima v Nairobi City Stars