A thin Gor Mahia squad left the country on Friday, November 26 morning for Congo where they are scheduled to play AS Otoho d’Oyo on Sunday,November 28, in the Caf Confederation Cup second round first leg match.
The match will be held at the Alphonse Massamba-Debat Stadium in Brazzaville from 5.30 pm with the second leg scheduled to take place on December 5 at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
Gor Mahia Sporting Director Lordvick Aduda,together with Secretary General Sam Ochola travelled to Brazzaville on Tuesday, told Nation Sport that they have finalised the team’s travel and accommodation logistics during their stay in Congo.
After arriving in Brazzaville, the players will undergo Covid-19 tests and have a light training at the match venue in the evening.
On Saturday evening, they will have their final training session at the Alphonse Massamba-Debat Stadium before the game, which will be open to a limited number of fans.
Gor Mahia has a lean squad for the play-offs because it couldn’t register enough players following a Fifa ban between July and August, Harrison will be able to field new players if K’Ogalo makes it to the group stage whose matches are scheduled for February.
Only 16 on-field players were on board as they left the JKIA for Brazzaville.
Gor Mahia’s British coach Mark Harrison has promised to field a strong squad despite having a deficiency of players.
Since the Football Kenya Federation Premier League was briefly suspended, Gor played build-up matches against National Super League sides Shabana FC and Kisumu All-Stars, winning 2-1 and losing by the same margin respectively.
“We have finalised our preparations and our target is a positive result. Since we are only two matches away from the group stage, we have to put all our effort into this game, avoid mistakes and get a win. It is the first game between the two sides but it is important that we get a ticket to the group stage,”Mark Harrison pointed out.