Ugandan coach Johnny McKinstry remains confident his side will be ready for the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup which will be held in Kampala.
The close to two weeks competition will run from December 7-19 at the Fufa Technical Centre, Njeru and the Kyabazinga Stadium, Bugembe in Jinja.
Mckinstry feels the 2-0 victory over Jinja-based Gaddafi FC in a practice match played at the Kyabazinga Stadium in Jinja was a good build-up and has given him the confidence his side will live up to their expectations in the tournament.
“It was another step in terms of our preparations. This was another part of our training program. Gaddafi was really up for the game and used a lot of energy that put us under pressure. The boys did well and everyone got some minutes of play,” McKinstry is quoted by New Vision.
“We have a good team to give us a good tournament, our target is to make sure the trophy remains in Uganda and I am sure they will deliver.”
He added: “It has helped me learn a few things on our players and I was pleased with the performance though we need to work on some other things that didn’t go well and it’s all good in terms of continuing our preparations for Cecafa.”
Uganda is in Group A alongside Burundi, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. But some reports indicated Ethiopia had pulled out but Fufa is yet to confirm.
DR Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia are in Group B while Group C is comprised of Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, and Zanzibar.
This will be the first Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup to be hosted by Uganda since 2012 which they eventually won. Kenya is the defending champions of this championship having edged Zanzibar in the last edition they hosted in 2017.