Togo coach Claude Le Roy has warned his charges to get ready for a huge battle against Kenya in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Sparrowhawks will play against the Harambee Stars in their second Group G match after losing the opener 1-0 at home against Comoros. On the other hand, Kenya secured a 1-1 draw against Egypt in their first match in Alexandria.
Speaking to Goal after the Togolese side touched down in Kenya on Saturday night, Le Roy has stressed the importance of his side deploying a cautious approach and also described Kenya as a "very good side", having managed to get a point from Egypt.
“We know Kenya picked up a fantastic result in Alexandria against Egypt, they managed a draw and we know how it is difficult for any team to go there and get a point from Egypt,” Le Roy told Goal.
“And you know we lost our first game against Comoros and we know it will be a very tough game for us against a very good Kenyan side who have very good strikers playing in China and Japan, also they have Victor [Wanyama] in England and also have very good defenders.
“Kenya are a very strong team; you cannot get a good result as they did away in Alexandria if you don’t have a good team, they are a good side but we will see what the result will be at the end of Monday afternoon.”
Le Roy has admitted his side suffered a shock defeat to Comoros because his players were poor in front of the goal.
“I hope my players will have no pressure and you know they have enough experience to be able to survive after the bad result [against Comoros] at home, the performance was good but the result was not good we created able chances to score but we did not use the chances,” Le Roy continued.
“The team’s [Togo] finishing is one area which we must work on in the next days before we face Kenya, it let us down against Comoros, it was our main problem but I know the players are ready to get a win and I am very happy to return to Kenya again.”
Comoros took the surprise lead on top of Group G after shocking Togo 1-0 in Lome on matchday one. The islanders, who are ranked at position 142 on the Fifa rankings, were not the favourites especially away from home.
But they were not keen on keeping to the narrative as they provided a superb fight, with Faiz Selemani scoring six minutes after the half-time break, a lead they held on to for the remaining 41 minutes of the game.
