Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat is banking on a new look lineup to deliver a win in Sunday’s second leg of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier against South Sudan.
In last Sunday’s clash at the Juba Stadium, Harambee Stars went down 2-0 after second-half strikes from Ezbon Malish and Johannes Folino.
Firat, however, believes a shuffle in the starting eleven could spark a turnaround.
“We’ll be giving some fresh faces a chance during the second leg. This match will allow us to see what new players can bring to the team,” Firat said.
Despite the match having no bearing on Kenya’s qualification, Firat stressed the importance of a strong result.
“We have to bring better results. We are going out for a win in this second leg regardless of whether it makes a difference or not,” he said.
Kenyans have already secured automatic qualification for next year’s tournament as the host nation alongside Uganda and Tanzania.
The tactician said there was no relevance in Harambee Stars playing in the qualification rounds.
“It doesn’t make any sense to push a team to play in the qualifiers if they have already qualified,” Firat said.
Reflecting on the loss against South Sudan, Firat acknowledged that they had more hunger for the win as compared to Harambee Stars.
“The main difference between us and South Sudan was their aggressiveness. They had more to play for as compared to us,” he said.
Firat also lamented the lack of preparation, with club commitments hampering Stars’ training plans.
“The league is still on and clubs releasing their players early is a huge problem.”
“The players played on Wednesday, we met on Thursday for some light warm-up and travelled on Friday to Juba, where we only trained on Saturday. We did not have sufficient time to train for the match,” Firat said.
Firat’s charges will be looking to secure momentum ahead of their next assignment which is an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier second-leg tie match against Zimbabwe on November 11.
In the first leg, the duo played to a barren draw at the Mandela National Stadium.
Stars
currently sit third in Group J of
the Afcon qualifiers with four
points after recording one win
from four matches.