Shikhalo happy to fight keeper Mnata for starting role at Yanga SC

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The former Bandari custodian reveals what is pushing him for a better display in the coming Mainland Premier League season

Kenya international Farouk Shikhalo has revealed his happiness at fighting for a starting role with Metacha Mnata in Young Africans' (Yanga SC) squad.

Shikhalo signed for Yanga from Kenyan Premier League (KPL) side Bandari last season but he could not play in many matches in the Mainland Premier League as Mnata was preferred by the coaches to start.

He has now said he did not feel bad warming the bench because it is the coach who picks the squad, and further welcomed his competition with the Tanzanian keeper saying it pushed him to do even better and it will make him a better player in the new season.

“First of all I don’t think there was any problem [for me to start from the bench], it is all about the coach, they all have different systems and that is what they look at heading into any match, so I did not have any problem with that,” Shikhalo told Goal on Sunday.

“I also want to thank Metacha [Mnata] for pushing me hard, the competition we have with him is very healthy, if it was not for him maybe I could not have reached the level I am at the moment, Metacha is a good goalkeeper, and I thank him because he will continue to push me so we can achieve the team’s targets in the coming season.”

Yanga are scheduled to take on Rayon Sports of Rwanda in a friendly and Shikhalo believes the match has come at the right time to help the new and old players in the squad know each other well before the season kicks off on September 6.

“I have to put the team’s target first and we must use our friendly against Rayon to know each other well, old players and new players to know each other well, remember we lost 14 players and now we have also signed new players this window, so the friendly is good for us,” Shikhalo continued.

“We must use the friendly against Rayon to know who is who, that is the main focus in the friendly.”

Yanga released 14 players at the end of the last campaign after they ended the season without winning silverware and they have so far signed 12 players.

The Timu ya Wananchi will start the new season with a match against Tanzania Prisons at the newly-named Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Yanga fought hard and edged Azam FC for second place in the 2019/20 season.

2020-08-23 10:00:02

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