Caf Confederation Cup 'might be tough for Gor Mahia and Tusker' - Okwemba

Former Kenya international Charles Okwemba believes the Football Kenya Federation Premier League break might negatively impact Tusker FC and Gor Mahia in the Caf Confederation Cup.

Gor Mahia will be away to Congo Brazzaville where they will play Otoho d'Oyo on Sunday at Alphonse Massamba-Debat Stadium in Brazzaville, while Tusker FC will be entertaining Tunisians Sfaxien at Nyayo Stadium on the same day.

But the two teams have not been playing competitive matches for more than two weeks now after the FKF Caretaker Committee suspended the top tier temporarily for regularisation purposes, after taking control away from the disbanded regime led by former president Nick Mwendwa.

'It might be a tough outing for Gor Mahia, Tusker'

"When going for these assignments, you need to be at your best, and that means you have to be in a competitive mood," Okwemba told GOAL on Monday.

"We have two teams here, Gor Mahia and Tusker, they have not played competitive matches for quite a while. The players might need a few minutes to set themselves up, and by the time they settle they might be trailing.

"Continental matches need good preparations; too bad it has not happened because of the situation. It might turn out to be a tough outing for the teams, but again, you cannot write them off, they might surprise us.

"Some players perform better when less expected, and I hope it will be the case for Tusker and Gor Mahia."

Gor Mahia.

Meanwhile, K'Ogalo might miss the services of midfielder Sydney Ochieng in Sunday's first-leg, play-off clash.

"We had two friendly matches last weekend, we won 2-1 against Shabana before losing by the same margin in our second game," cub's assistant coach Sammy Omollo told GOAL.

"But the bad news is that we have 16 fit players now, after the injury of Ochieng'. He sustained a hamstring injury in the game against All-Stars after coming on in the final half.

"We will be assessing him, and we are hopeful he will be fit to play a part in our Confederation Cup match. It is a vital game for us, and we really wished to have all players available."