Ulinzi Stars Head coach Dunstan Nyaudo has three players ruled out of the weekend trip to Narok where the team will be facing Sofapaka in the 25th round of matches at the Narok County Stadium on Sunday 5th August.
Right back Cylus Shitote is out with a hamstring injury and after missing the draw with Nzoia Sugar, he has been confirmed absent for one more week and thus the Sofapaka game comes too soon for him.
Defender Eugene Ochieng is also out with a knee injury. He had scans conducted on the troublesome knee but team doctor John Imboywa confirms more scans will be required to ascertain the extent.
“Eugene has a suspected meniscus tear. We need further scans to verify this but at the moment we can confirm he is out. He may be out for about four weeks, but that remains subject to confirmation pending the report from the scan,” he said.
Just like Eugene, midfielder Oscar Injika will also have to wait a little longer for his debut after failing to recover from the ankle injury that has kept him out for the past few weeks.
Fortunately for Injika, scans revealed no fractures or dislocation to his ankle but Doctor Imboywa confirmed he will be out for at least four weeks.
“Injika had scans last week and the good thing is that he has no dislocation or fracture. To give him enough time to heal, he will be out for four weeks,” he added.
On a more positive note, midfielder Omar Boraafya has been in training with the team for the last two days after missing the last two games with a knee injury. Barring another injury setback, he will be available for selection.
After a fine month in July, where the team won three and drew two of the five matches played , coach Nyaudo will be hoping for a fine start to August, with a win over Sofapaka, a team that beat Ulinzi 2- 1 at home in the first leg.
The coach will be hoping for a bounce back as he was not too amused with the outcome, especially after creating a horde of chances but failing to score with any but he praised his charges for creating the goal scoring chances.
The team went to the game at Afraha Stadium on Sunday 29th July needing a win to cap a great month that had seen a rise from a poor June but that wasn’t to be as the clash ended goalless and with a lot of chances missed.
The coach however called on the players not to dwell so much on the missed chances and start switching focus to the next game, against Sofapaka.
“Truth is that we did not use our chances in the game but then the positive side of it is that we created chances. The players were just nervous after doing well with the build up play and unfortunately it cost us two points.
“We would have made a massive gain with three points from the game but we can’t keep lamenting over that; I think the mark of a big team like we are is to rise and correct those mistakes and eye better returns in the next game,” he said.
In the game, George Omondi was played as a right back, from his usual center back position and according to the coach, he was superb.
“He played extremely well; his crosses were good, his deep passes were great and he covered the flanks well both when attacking and defending. All these aspects are not qualities we will find in many defenders so I am happy with the way he played,” he added.