AFC Leopards coach Casa Mbungo has disputed claims Gor Mahia are on a different level compared to his team.
Mbungo made the claims after his side lost 4-1 to their arch-rivals K'Ogalo on Sunday during this season's first Mashemeji Derby.
The Rwandan coach has credited Gor Mahia's success to their participation in Caf competitions.
For the last three seasons, K'Ogalo have taken part in both the Champions League and the Confederation Cup which Mbungo says have been key in helping their rivals gain proper experience.
“Gor Mahia are not at a higher level than AFC Leopards it is only the experience they have got especially from various competitions they have been which have given them the edge over us,” Mbungo told reporters.
“We will need to strive hard in order for us to reach those levels too and I hope after getting there everything will be fine for us.”
The former Police FC and AS Kigali coach went on to explain how his side lost the derby at Kasarani.
“We lost the game in the second half and that was due to poor concentration and poor marking. After going down by two goals I decided to take the risk and introduced attacking players at the expense of defenders but, unfortunately, it did not work,” Mbungo added.
“We were never afraid but we accorded Gor Mahia space to execute their game plans and they used the space and scored goals.”
Next for AFC Leopards is a test against Bandari FC and Mbungo says they must win the match on November 21 in order to keep their title ambitions alive.
“The results [against Gor Mahia] will not have a great influence on our season. We have played eight matches before and we did better only to falter in the ninth one. We are now focusing on our match in Mombasa and if we win then I am sure we will get back on track in the title race,” he concluded.
AFC Leopards are seventh on the log with 15 points.
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