Gor Mahia coach Hassan Oktay has admitted that he would have loved to have Dennis Oliech in the team that beat Hussein Dey on Sunday. The result means that K’Ogalo is now top in Group D with six points from three games while the Algerian side has four. The Kenyan champions cruised to a 2-0 win over the visiting Algerian side and in the process moved top of Group D on six points. Goals from Francis Kahata and Jaqcues Tuyisenge were enough to break down the resilient Hussein Dey side, who came into the fixture leading the log.
But prior to the match, coach Oktay was forced to drop striker Dennis Oliech, who is involved in a pay stand-off with the Kenyan champions. Despite the win, Oktay insists that he missed the presence of Oliech and now wants the club to sort out the issue so as the former Kenyan captain can be available for the return leg next Sunday.
“I missed Dennis (Oliech) very much. He is a professional player and his presence could have been an added advantage. I love the player and I missed him. I will call him tomorrow (Monday) because I want the impasse solved as quickly as possible,” Oktay said in an interview.
On the match Oktay said, “I asked my players not to underrate Hussein Dey and you could see in the first half we pushed them very hard but could not get a goal, I asked my players to remain patient, don’t panic, just attack and defend well and when we scored the first goal, we could have added even four.
“We have been playing very well in this competition but our main problem is to take the chances. We have to score from our chances and that happened today against Hussein Dey.” Gor Mahia will now turn their focus to a crucial league match against Tusker FC on Wednesday.