Ismaily coach Cedomir Janevski fears fatigue effect ahead of TP Mazembe tie

Ismaily coach Cedomir Janevski has expressed worry about the congested fixtures inside which his team has been involved in demanding games.

In the past two weeks, Ismaily have played back-to-back Caf Champions League matches against Algerian champions CS Constantine as well as an Egyptian Premier League match against El Geish.

Now they are set to host Champions League heavyweights TP Mazembe on Friday in what could be another taxing fixture.

While acknowledging that he is not using the tight fixture schedule to justify Ismaily' poor run in the Champions League, Janevski said the fatigue that has gripped his players cannot be ignored.

“We played well recently. We have young but promising players and we are at the start of building a team that is capable of going forward. The stacked schedule caused a lot of fatigue for the players but it’s not an excuse,” Janevsk was quoted as saying by Kingfut.

“I always try to improve the players. However, they are humans and not robots to apply everything I say. I am glad to be training this group of players and proud to be coaching a club like Ismaily. Our hopes remain alive despite the difficulty but this is what we will aim for.”

With just a point from four games and at the bottom of Group C, Ismaily face an almost impossible bid of reaching the Caf Champions League quarter-finals.

They come up against a TP Mazembe side that is six points ahead of them, before travelling to Club Africain for their last group game.