Afcon: Sebastien Migne knows Harambee Stars players better than anyone else, says John Baraza

Sebastien Migne has reasons why he selected the 23 players for Africa Cup of Nations duties, former Kenya international John Baraza has said.

The reduction of the squad to the final 23 has generated intensive debate once more, especially after Zesco United's midfielder Anthony Akumu was dropped.

Cliffton Miheso, injured Christopher Mbamba and Brian Mandela are the other players who failed to make the cut.

"At the end of the day, Migne was set to make his final squad and that means reducing the number of players and in the process disappointing some of them," Baraza told Goal.

"It is the coach who has been with the players and I am sure he did take a close evaluation of the players at hand before constituting the final team."

The Sofapaka coach added that each position in the Harambee Stars team has good players and that was sure to cause Migne a headache when he was making the final selection.

"For Akumu, he is a player that has a good physique, he has pace and makes good tackles and his club form has also been fine. But you can see that he was competing with Dennis Odhiambo, Victor Wanyama and even Ismael Gonzalez," explained the retired forward.

"That does not mean he was poor compared to his competitors but the coach might have considered some other several factors again.

"Miheso was competing against Ovella Ochieng, Francis Kahata, Ayub Tumbe, and Paul Were and that shows how rich that position is too. It is a big dilemma that I am sure Migne faced before axing these players."

Kenya is set to face the Democratic Republic of Congo in the final friendly match on June 15 before leaving for Egypt.

Harambee Stars are pooled with Algeria, Tanzania, and Senegal in Group C.