The absence of striker Michael Olunga in the AFCON Qualifier group is an advantage to one Masud Juma .
Harambee Stars head coach Sebastien Migne believes that Olunga’s absence shouldn’t by any chance weaken the teams performance but should act as an opportunity for Masud to show him what he can do.
Olunga was ruled out of the tie after it was confirmed on Tuesday that he had picked a hamstring injury that will rule him out of three weeks and according to Migne on Tuesday when the national team revealed a new sponsor, the absence of the Japanese based striker was an opportunity for Juma who has found it hard to break into the national team.
“It (the injury to Olunga) will be an opportunity for another player to show his quality. It was difficult until now to have Masud in the team (due to Olunga’s form) but it is now a good opportunity for him to show me his quality for AFCON and maybe to have other options for AFCON,” Migne said.
The coach however admitted that it will be a tough task to repeat their heroics witnessed against Ghana in the reverse fixture and had agreed with Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa to give preference to the Kenya U23 team who are gearing for an Olympic Qualifier for Sudan.
“It will be a difficult game but don’t forget that we have beaten Ghana without Wanyama, without Mandela so we will try to find solution but we know it will be difficult to repeat the victory against Ghana.
“We have decided with the President that the priority for next week be the Olympic team (the Kenya U23),” Migne said.
In the absence of Olunga, Migne had called Zesco Unite striker Jesse Were to fill the void.