NAIROBI, Kenya, May 4 – Rwandese striker Jacques Tuyisenge is a doubt for the Mashemeji Derby on Sunday after aggravating in training a knee injury he picked up over the weekend in the 1-0 loss to Mathare United in Thika.
Tuyisenge who has scored twice for Gor this season did not fully participate in the side’s Thursday afternoon session at the Camp Toyoyo ground as the injury hugely limited his movement.
“Jack has a little knee injury but I hope it will not be serious and he can be able to play on Sunday. We will look at him over the next two days and decide whether he will be fit enough to play,” Gor Mahia head coach Jose Marcelo Ferreira told Capital Sport.
The absence of Tuyisenge, signed last year from Rwandese side Police FC for Sh4mn will pose a new offensive heartache for the Brazilian coach and he might be forced to summon Meddie Kagere who has been coming off the bench in the previous matches.
While Tuyisenge’s availability remains uncertain, the tactician will be boosted with the return of midfielder Kenneth ‘Junior’ Muguna who missed last weekend’s loss to Mathare with injury. The former Western Stima man, crowned 2016 footballer of the year has trained well with his mates whole week.
“Kenneth is a very important player for us; in our midfield he is crucial for our game. I am happy he can be back. We have two days to look at his fitness and hopefully he will be okay,” the tactician, nick-named Ze Maria added.
He expects a tough encounter from the 13-time champions Ingwe who he described as a tough team ‘with a great coach’, but maintains his charges will be going all out to pick all three points against their biggest rivals.
“I have watched them and they have a good team and a good coach. It will be tough because the derby is always a different match; not like others. Yes, it is the same three points but the tension and pressure from both sides makes it tough,”
“But we are ready to fight for the three points. We want to win the league and if you have to win the league, you have to beat AFC Leopards who are our biggest competitors,” a confident Ze Maria noted.
Gor come into the fixture at the back of a 0-1 loss at home to Mathare United last weekend, a result that pegged back their hopes of moving to the top of the table.
The Brazilian coach has admitted they lost because they played poorly but hopes his side will raise the bar in their most important fixture of the calendar.
“We lost our match against Mathare because we never played well. I is the first match this year that we didn’t play to our level.”
“We have to look forward and fight in this match to get back to our ways. We started well this season and that was just one bad day,” the coach noted.
The same sentiments were shared by skipper Musa Mohammed who said; “It was a bad day in the office but it is behind our backs. We are looking forward to bounce back in a big way and this is a good match to do so. We expect a tough encounter because AFC have a very good team this season.”