Timothy Awanyi returns to the fold after missing the 1st leg
By: Danito Nsubuga
Moses Basena put his men through their paces at Philip Omondi Stadium Lugogo ahead of the crunch tie against Rwanda in Kigali for the return leg of the CHAN qualifier. Uganda goes into this leg with a 3-0 cushion and they will need to only avoid defeat to qualify for the tournament to be held in Kenya early next year from January 11th to February 2nd 2018.
The Cranes looked in good spirits on Tuesday morning but some of Vipers SC players like captain Nicholas Wadada, Milton Karisa were subjected to lighter training due to their involvement in a pre season friendly match against Azam FC of Tanzania.
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Midfielder Moses Waiswa did not take part in training due to a slight knock he got from the friendly match against Azam, Onduparaka duo of Mohammed Shanan and Rashid Toha were also not involved in Tuesday’s training.
Defender Timothy Awanyi who missed Saturday’s 1st leg match at Kitende because of a scheduled trial program in South Africa also took part in Tuesday’s training together with SC Villa’s Martin Kizza.
Coach Fred Kajoba takes the goal keepers through their paces
After the training Moses Basena briefed the media and he says the preparations are running according to plan despite some incumberances especially from the players involved with their clubs’ pre season matches.
” We have been trying to get through the recovery process and we expect to add more intensity tomorrow , but we have been quite unfortunate that not all the boys are here with us due to fatigue and knocks received form their clubs’ engagements and I am a bit disappointed their time of involvement was not managed well because some of the them played for over 90 minutes but let’s hope the technical departments there managed to assess the condition well. “
When asked about the return of Timothy Awanyi to the fold, Basena said,
“He has been a member of our set up and he is one of the senior members of the group. We have been working with a group of over 50 players and this gives us a wide range of options to choose from whenever need arises. “
“The focus is now turned on the Saturday game and it’s a fresh game different from the one we played last week, so we are approaching it with a totally different dimension. We need to be grounded as this is a very tricky situation and we need to handle with caution. We have to be professional enough not be carried away by the result last week. We need to start afresh and avoid thinking its over until it’s over. “
The Cranes will regroup tomorrow and a full house is expected on to embark on a more tense approach.
