NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 24 – Gor Mahia head coach Mark Harrison says his team is not ready for their first game of the season on Saturday against KCB, noting that the small turnaround between last season and the new season has not given him enough time to prepare his team.
The tactician says he will have only had 14 days to train with the squad, a period that is insufficient to ensure the team is ready for their first match of the season.
“Ordinarily, you would need six or six and a half weeks for a good pre-season but we have had slightly more than 10 days. Well, we might have lost a wee due to some issues with players but still that would have not been enough,” the Englishman said.
He added; “Honestly, we are not ready because we have not had enough time to prepare. It will take a few weeks for us to be ready and we will unfortunately have to use these first few matches as a form of pre-season.”
Gor Mahia faces KCB on Saturday and will be fortunate that the league takes a two-week international break before they switch their attention to the CAF Confederation Cup.
They had their first match of the season on Wednesday in the FKF Super Cup where they lost 8-7 on penalties to Tusker FC and the tactician, though disappointed in the result, believes that will be a positive step towards their new season.
“It was always going to be difficult to play against Tusker because they are match fit having played two CAF matches. We were playing our first match together and it showed because we didn’t quite get into the match properly. We didn’t keep the ball and we weren’t composed,” said the tactician.
“But at least we had one 90 minutes together and we will have another on Saturday and it will be good fitness exercise for the players as we prepare for the CAF game,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gor have been a bit busy trying to get new faces into the team after massive exits. The club has brought on board Congolese striker Sando Yangayay, Peter Lwasa and Joshua Onyango from Kariobangi Sharks, Boniface Omondi returning from Wazito where they have also signed left back Denis Ng’ang’a.
The tactician says they are in the market for more players.
“We are trying to find several other new faces. We want to strengthen the team more. We need a cover at right back, a good attacking midfielder and one more in the wide area,” the coach said.
He added; “We will work on the team and if we get our heads right, I believe we will have a good season.”