“We have the right quality; we have the spirit and the drive to do it. It has been a long time since the team won and most of us were very young at that time but I believe this season we can deliver the title. It will be a great honor for us, the fans and the company,” skipper James Situma told Capital Sport. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 19- Tusker FC skipper James Situma is a doubt for Thursday’s GOtv Shield final against Ulinzi Stars at the Nyayo National Stadium due to a knee injury picked up against Bandari in Mombasa.
Situma sat out of training on Wednesday morning as he waited on a scan on his knee to ascertain the extent of the injury, though he says he only felt it after returning from the Coastal town.
“For the Thursday match, it might be tricky but probably I can try for Sunday’s game against City Stars,” the hard working utility player said.
Situma has been a pillar of the Tusker side throughout their campaign this season and his leadership will be a huge miss as they play the Shield final for the first time in 11 years.
The last time the Brewers reached the final of the tournament was in 2005 when they ended up losing 2-1 to World Hope, now City Stars.
In his absence, head coach Paul Nkata will look onto Eugene Asike and Ugandan Martin Kizza with Asike having returned to full training after recovering from a knock and was part of the 18-man squad for the match against Bandari.
“There is pressure, honestly because the champions and the teams below us are breathing on our necks. The gap is small and we are at a position where we have to take each of the remaining six games very seriously,” Nkata who joined the Ruaraka based club at the start of the season told Capital Sport. PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
Tusker players looked in high spirits in their final training session on Wednesday morning with their focus squarely fixed on breaking a 23-year wait for the GOtv Shield title.
“We have stayed so long without winning this trophy and we will try our best to see that we can get it on the team’s table. It is not easy though because we have had a very tight schedule, travelling and playing a match within three days. But we will do everything possible to win that trophy,” the Ugandan tactician offered.
The two sides have met twice in the league this season with Ulinzi winning the first leg 2-0 at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos while Tusker won the reverse fixture 2-1 in Nakuru.
Tusker who are also chasing the league title remain confident they can lift both titles at the end of the season and Nkata who joined the side from Muhoroni Youth at the start of the season is eager to get silverware in Ruaraka.
“We cannot play all four games at a go. We take each match at a time. It is not a big gap yet (with Gor Mahia) so we can’t start celebrating. But if we manage to get two wins in those four games, then we can start talking about the championship,” Nkata said of his side’s hunt for the league title.
Tusker finished without a trophy last season having won the Top 8 Cup back to back in 2013 and 2014.
