YOUNG Africans said the absence of playmaker Stephane Aziz Ki will not affect the sharpness of the squad as they face Kagera Sugar at CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza today.
The two sides meet in a pick of the day fixture in renewed efforts for the maximum points as both sides are keen to sparkle at the sound of the final whistle.
Kagera Sugar, who host the match, have momentarily shifted to the Mwanza venue to give way for the renovation works at their Kaitaba Stadium in Kagera.
In a pre-match briefing on Saturday, Yanga Head Coach Nassredine Nabi when asked as to whether the absence of Aziz Ki could affect his game plan, he replied: “There is no way they can be affected since they play collectively as a team.”
He added: “It is true that Aziz Ki is a potential player in our team and he showed that during our CAF Confederation Cup match against Club Africain by scoring the winner but we have a deep squad with each player ready to play.
“Our strategy is to approach the game in the same way we do when all players are present…we know it will be a tough match but we are ready to play,” said Nabi who is searching to bag a second league title at the helm of the Jangwani street giants.
He also observed that Kagera Sugar have lately improved especially after the arrival of new coach Mecky Mexime saying in their recent games, they have excelled to collect maximum points.
Also, Nabi used the opportunity to urge Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) to try to adjust league fixture especially for the teams featuring in the international matches as one way to provide enough recovery period to players.
“After playing our confederation cup match on Wednesday in Tunisia, we have not trained until today (yesterday) when we are set to have just one training session before the game…this is not good to players and we request them (TPLB) to take this into consideration in the future,” he said.
His counterpart for Kagera Sugar Mecky Mexime said they have had enough preparations to face Yanga and that his charges are keen to record convincing results after the match.
“To our side, we are done with preparations, just waiting for the kickoff time. We are playing against a good team coming fresh from doing well in the confederation cup… congratulations to them for that achievement.
“Whenever facing teams like Yanga and Simba, we usually embrace caution because they have game changing players capable to transform the match but, all those have been carefully considered,” he said.
Mexime is searching for his second triumph after being reappointed as Kagera Sugar coach replacing Francis Baraza who was sacked recently.
