Mathare United defender James Situma has called on Kenyans to support Harambee Stars in Egypt.
This is after head coach Sebastien Migne has come under intense criticism following his squad selections.
"It is the same players who qualified Kenya to the Afcon and so they deserve their places. We will not be doing them any good if we keep up the constant negative criticism," Situma told Goal.
"At the end of the day, the coach had to pick the final 23 players and in that case, he was going to disappoint a number. But I will not take that as a disappointment because players have been in this industry long enough and understand the dynamics of the game."
The former Sofapaka, AFC Leopards, Tusker and Kakamega Homeboyz star added that the French tactician has his reasons why he picked certain players.
"Migne picked the players he thinks will implement his footballing philosophy better and that is why it is important that he should be given room to choose players of his liking," he added.
There have been questions as to why Allan Wanga and Jesse Were were dropped but Situma says they should not be worried and only look for what the future holds.
"For those who did not get the nod to represent Kenya in the Afcon, there is always a next time and I know that some who did not make into the final Afcon squad won places in the African Nations Championship (Chan) team," explained Situma.
He also spoke about the influence his club coach Francis Kimanzi would have on the national team.
"Kimanzi will surely help Migne understand Kenyan football well. Any foreigner will always need a local link that will help in explaining local dynamics and I believe Kimanzi is doing a good job in linking the playing unit and the head coach," concluded the two-time KPL winning defender.
"The best thing that we should do is support our team in Egypt and hope for the best."
Harambee Stars are grouped alongside Algeria, Senegal and Tanzania.
