Wamalwa sorely missed at Ulinzi, laments Nyangweso

Benjamin Nyangweso has admitted that Oscar Wamalwa has been sorely missed by the club after the striker was ruled out for the rest of the season through a shoulder injury.

Wamalwa suffered a dislocation in the shoulder  following a challenge from  AFC Leopards defender Collins Shivachi on February 2 in a league match and the tactician believes his absence is felt at the club.

However Nyangweso believes Masita Masuta who bagged a brace  in the 3-2 win against relegation threatened side Kisumu All Stars can fill the void.

Speaking to Citizen Digital after guiding his side to victory,the tactician says he has put his faith on Masuta to lead the line.

“Wamalwa, of course, is a big miss. He was on fine form [before his injury] but life has to move on. I believe Masuta has come in really well and you’ve seen today. He’s scored two goals. We also have several options which will help us in our attack line,”said Nyangweso.

Nyangweso also insists his side have proven they have the mettle to challenge for the title.

The soldiers lie fifth on the log, and are nine points behind league leaders Gor Mahia but the gaffer insists there’s a long way to go.

“This (title race) is a marathon; even the one at position eight still has hopes. We are not giving up on this until the end of the season,” he added.

His Kisumu All Stars counterpart Andrew Aroka remains defiant about his sides’ KPL survival insisting ‘they should not be written off’.

Speaking to Citizen Digital at Afraha Stadium, Aroka said his charges have what it takes to maintain a topflight status.

All Stars are rooted at the basement of the log after 20 matches with a measly 8 points,  but with 42 points to fight for, they can evade the chop should they begin  winning their matches.

“In the past few games we have been improving and it’s a matter of time before we get the results. We still believe we can escape this(relegation)because there’s a long way and as a coach I have to push my players and believe that we can secure our topflight status,” he said.

Kisumu All Stars host high flying Tusker at Moi Stadium Kisumu on Saturday while Ulinzi Stars visit Sofapaka in their next league assignment.