Caf Confederation Cup: KCCA FC have to 'work with what we have' in Covid-19 crisis – Byekwaso

BetOdds CAF Confederation Cup AS Kigali v KCCA KCCA AS Kigali

The Kasasiro Boys will have to navigate the away fixture minus 14 of their key players who returned positive Covid-19 results

Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA FC) assistant coach Morley Byekwaso is confident they will get a decent result when they take on AS Kigali in the Caf Confederation Cup on Wednesday.

The Ugandan giants will take on AS of Rwanda in the second round first leg match at Kigali Stadium, Nyamirambo on Wednesday.

The Kasasiro Boys suffered a huge blow heading into the match as their head coach Mike Mutebi and 12 first-team players tested positive for coronavirus and thus did not travel to Kigali.

Mutebi, as well as his 12 players, were informed of the tests after they had faced Uganda Revenue Authority (URA FC) in a Premier League match which they lost 2-1 last Friday.

The players who were left behind because of returning positive tests include goalkeeper Charles Lukwago, Denis Iguma, Kezironi Kizito, Brian Aheebwa, Stefano Mazengo, Samson Kigozi, Hassan Musana, and Hassan Matovu.

Assistant coach Badru Kabuye, goalkeeping coach Moses Oloya and first-team coach Jackson Magera were among the members of the technical bench who are also infected by Covid-19.

Despite the absence of the key players, Byekwaso, who will handle the team in the absence of Mutebi, he has now said they are ready to get a positive result to take back to Kampala for the return leg and will work with the players in the squad.

“We are prepared to take on AS Kigali. We want to pick a decent result in Rwanda,” Byekwaso told the club’s official website. “We have a team that can help us compete and get us the result we want.

“We will not have a number of our players because of Covid-19 but we have to work with what we have. We are here to play and defend the badge.”

Defender John Revita is also confident they will do their best to win the match despite the challenges they are facing.

“We want to pick a decent result against AS Kigali. We are ready for the game despite the challenges we had in the team. We are going to do our best to pick a good result.”

On a positive note for KCCA, youngsters Bright Anukani, Sadat Anaku, and Steven Sserwadda travelled with the squad and are available for selection.

Defender Fillbert Obenchan could earn a starting place in the team after his impressive display as a substitute against SC Villa last week.

Meanwhile, Academy graduate Moses Aliro passed his fitness test and is ready to play after missing the last two league games against Villa and URA due to injury.

Elsewhere, the match officials have been confirmed from Sudan, with the centre referee Mohammed Mohammed Eltreefe, Ahmed Nagel Subahi – (1st Assistant Referee) – Sudan, Omar Hamid Ahmed – (2nd Assistant Referee) – Sudan, Mohammed Hussein – (4th Official) – Sudan, Mustapha Samugabo – (Commissioner) – Burundi and Mwanza Jose Nyamusore – (Covid-19 Officer) Rwanda.

The last Confederation Cup game for KCCA was on November 3, 2019, against Paradou AC away in Algeria and this year, they received a bye from the previous round.

2020-12-23 10:00:04

Comments

Send Your Comment

Download Application