AFC Leopards teenage goal keeper Edwin Mukolwe in action against their SPL clash against Tusker FC. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu.
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 26 – After having superb performances for AFC Leopards during the club’s 2-2 draw against Tusker FC, goalkeeper Edwin Mukolwe and striker Alfred Wekesa are now longing to be regular starters in Ivan Minnaert’s team.
Head Coach Minnaert handed Mukolwe his first ever start for the club while Wekesa was making his third appearance and the second start.
“Both youngsters were our best players. Mukolwe did well despite conceding the two goals. Wekesa was also fantastic,” Minnaert said.
Mukolwe benched first choice keeper Lukas Indeche who has been struggling with a shoulder injury for the past six weeks.
Minnaert says the keeper might be out of action for up to three months and despite being forced to shop for another shot-stopper, Mukolwe did enough to show that in future, he can be a reliable first choice.
The 19-year-old, who joined Ingwe at the start of the season, hopes he can build on from his first performance and be a consistent figure between the posts for the 13-time Kenyan Premier League champions.
“It has been my dream since I started playing football that locally, I would want to play for Leopards. Having my debut was great and though I was a bit jittered, I want to thank my team mates for helping me to settle and have a good match,” Mukolwe told Capital Sport.
“It gives me a lot of confidence moving forward and there are other things I need to work on like my ball distribution and hopefully this will be one of many starts to come,” the teenager added.
Wekesa scored Leopards’ opener in the match and had several other scoring opportunities but he believes he has a chance to better his performance.
“I want to keep on. I have started two matches so far but possibly in the second leg, I want to play more, improve on my skill and do better,” Wekesa said.
Minnaert backed the duo to be in his starting squad as he plans to strengthen the team in the June transfer window.
“We need to bring in more players into the team. We had Tololwa (Andrew) out and we missed him. I have given the management my list of players and hopefully we can work to bring them in,” the Belgian tactician asserted.
Leopards moved to sixth on the standings on 20 points, nine adrift of leaders arch rivals Gor Mahia.
