Pressure will be on the host Gor Mahia when they head into the fixture against Algerian side Hussein Dey in the Caf Confederation Cup with a dented ego having lost the last game to Petro Atletico away in Angola and not everyone is happy with the head coach Hassan Oktay.
With a hundred percent win record at home, in the lower tier competition, Oktay might be hanging on some shreds of hope that his squad will once again deliver results at the Kasarani Stadium.
But according to former Gor Mahia legend, Tobias ‘Jua Kali’ Ochola, Oktay must get his pairing up front right, if he’s to steer the team past the group stages in his first season with the Kenyan Premier League champions.
“The coach is still struggling to identify a formidable attack,” Ochola observed, adding that unless Gor Mahia wins all the remaining home fixtures, he fears that the team might drop out of the competition, just as they did last season, on the final hurdle.
“It is so dangerous where we are, at this stage. It’s like a repeat of the 2018 season and the team might lose out unless they collect all the remaining points at home then force at least a draw away,” Ocholla told Goal in an exclusive interview.
Ochola says that a defeat away in Angola was a big mistake by Gor Mahia arguing that Petro Atletico is the only team that the record Kenyan champions could have easily beaten away.
“Winning away has been a problem. Petro is the only team that we could have easily beaten (away) – they blew up that chance with juvenile mistakes from the defense.
“Gor Mahia needs to know how to play away – they went for an attack, but you need to know that you have to defend first (away) then attack only when it is convenient for you.”