Uganda Cranes coach Johnathan McKinstry has warned they are ready for a tough battle against South Sudan in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
The Cranes will take on their opponents at St Mary Kitende in Kampala on Thursday with the return set for Kenya at Nyayo Stadium on November 17.
The Northern Irish tactician has now admitted their opponents will not be a walk in the park and that he expects them to give them a run for their money.
“We are in good condition, the players are in good spirit and we know we must put up a good performance to get the result,” McKinstry is quoted by Kawowo Sports.
“We expect a stubborn opponent and if you look at their previous nine games, all of them have not had goals of more than a one-goal margin so they have won by a single goal, drawn or lost by a single goal.
“The days of South Sudan conceding 3-4 goals are gone now. The current South Sudan team is well organised, well-coached and we need to make sure that we can break that resilience of theirs. We don’t expect an easy afternoon.”
McKinstry continued: “Football is no longer about the history and you can look all over the world where perceived small teams get results against perceived bigger opponents.”
His sentiments have been echoed by team captain and goalkeeper Denis Onyango who warned his teammates not to underrate South Sudan.
“It’s never a walkover in football, the fact that they made it to the group stages shows they have the quality to play at any stage,” stated Onyango.
“For us, it’s all about winning and staying focused because we can never underestimate any team because if you look back at the results that have been coming through against Malawi and Burkina Faso shows that South Sudan are a very resilient team, they fight until the end, so we just have to take our chances.
“They are our neighbours and that makes it more difficult for us but all we need is a win. We need to go hard on them and get maximum points.”
On Wednesday, Uganda suffered a blow after striker Alexis Bbakka pulled out of the squad owing to injury.
The Umea FC forward was among 20 foreign-based players summoned by McKinstry but he will now miss the double-header alongside Alex Kakuba and Uche Ikpeazu.
Wycombe Wanderers’ Ikpeazu was set to make his Uganda debut but an injury suffered while turning out for the club has denied him the chance.
