Simba SC players showing we have depth to fight for titles - Aussems

Simba SC coach Patrick Aussems is happy his players are ready to fight for positions in the starting squad.

This is after the Tanzanian Mainland champions laboured to a 1-0 win against Mashujaa FC in a friendly played at Lake Tanganyika ground on Monday.

Sudan import Sharaf Shiboub scored the all-important goal after coming on as a second-half substitute in the 56th minute to help Simba maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

But speaking after the match, the Belgian coach was delighted to have only used one regular player from the starting squad with the rest being the unused subs.

Only experienced keeper Aisha Manula got the chance to start against Mashujaa.

“I am very impressed when I see my players hungry to perform especially the ones who have not had time to show me what they can offer,” Aussems told reporters after the match.

“I am using this build-up matches to test all the players in my team and look, against [Mashujaa] I only gave [Manula] a start, the rest are players from the bench. It gives me confidence that we have the depth to go all the way this season.”

The victory for Simba was sweet revenge for the Msimbazi Street Reds who were painfully kicked out by Mashujaa in the knockout phase of last season’s Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) after going down 3-2 at National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Simba will again be in action on Wednesday when they take on the visiting Aigle Noir from Burundi at the same venue.

After the Aigle Noir fixture, Simba will return to domestic action where they are lined up to face KMC in a league match at Uhuru Stadium on Saturday before they host rivals Azam at the National Stadium a week later.