Hassan Oktay to Gor Mahia fans: The KPL title is far away from being won

Gor Mahia coach Hassan Oktay has cautioned club fans to stop premature celebrations because the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) title is yet to be won.

K’Ogalo stretched their lead at the summit of the 18-team KPL table to nine points after beating Ulinzi Stars 2-1 in a league match played at Afraha Stadium on Monday.

Despite the healthy lead at the top of the log, coach Oktay is not taking it easy and says there is a lot of ground to be covered before the league crown is won.

“The league title is not won yet, we are far away if you ask me, we are very far away to win the title and must keep working hard in every game we play. I know we have opened a nine-point gap with Sofapaka but that is nothing to celebrate yet,” Oktay told Goal in an interview.

“We still have a number of matches to play before the season ends and anything can happen, because this is football, you can wake up today and find yourself third on the log despite enjoying a huge lead a week before, so my philosophy is to keep winning matches and not looking at the table.”

Oktay maintained that his main task now is to make sure that every player in his squad remains fit to see off the remaining matches in the league.

“I need all my players to remain fit as that will be the only way to remain in contention. I always don’t like seeing my key players watching from the stands, I want all of them fit and ready to play. I will keep rotating my squad because that is the only way to keep them fresh,” Oktay continued.

“We play on Thursday and again on Sunday and this comes after we played against Ulinzi Stars on Monday, my players are tired, honestly speaking, they have covered a lot in recent weeks but there is nothing we can do. We have to play the fixtures so as to be par with the rest in the table.”

K’Ogalo will confront KCB on Thursday before another league match against Western Stima in Kisumu on Sunday.