Harambee Stars defender Brian Mandela during a training session at the Kasarani Stadium on March 20, 2019. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 20 – Harambee Stars head coach Sebastien Migne will need to re-organize his cards for the trip to Ghana ahead of Saturday’s final African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification match in Accra with defender Brian Mandela doubtful.
The burly defender sat out of the final 20 minutes of Wednesday morning’s session at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani with a suspected muscular problem and Migne confirmed to Capital Sport the defender might miss the tie.
“Mandela is not sure to play and it’s a huge problem for me. We need to find solution and maybe develop another option. It is not easy because this is Kenya and we don’t have so many foreign based players. But we will try to find a solution and this is a good opportunity for me to see other players,” Migne said.
He added; “There are other players who I have not played since I came in like Owino (David) or Masud. This is their chance to show what they can do.”
Mandela’s injury comes just few days after it was confirmed that striker Michael Olunga is unavailable due to a hamstring strain.
In Mandela’s absence, Migne will have plenty of options with Gor Mahia’s Joash Onyango back from injury while David Owino might be in line for a start having missed the last three international games with injury.
Harambee Stars new call up Christopher Mbamba (Centre) vies for the ball with Ismail Gonzalez during a training session at the Kasarani Stadium on March 19, 2019. PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
Meanwhile, new call up, Sweden-based Christopher Mbamba is racing against time to get his documentation right before the team travels to Accra early Thursday morning.
The winger born in Zimbabwe to a Namibian father and a Kenyan mother earned a first ever call-up to the national team for this trip to Ghana, but the only impediment is his paperwork.
“He (Mbamba) missed the session in the morning because he was working on his documentation and I hope by the end of the day he will be able to get it,” Migne said.
“He is an interesting players and will compete to be on final list for AFCON. I asked him to come because I saw his quality and I watched him in some games and it was interesting to see. But I need to know him more and see whether he can compete well with the group,” the French tactician stated.
Stars will hold their final training session on Wednesday evening after which Migne will nae his final list of travelling players early morning Thursday.
