Troubled National Super League side, Shabana finally started their pre-season on Saturday under Coach Gilbert Selebwa.
A hurriedly assembled team was trounced 3-0 in the opening match of the Kenya Communications Sports Organisation (KECOSO) opening game against Kenya Premier League outfit Posta Rangers.
Francis Nambute grabbed a brace with Marcelius Ingotsi adding the third goal in the game that was played at Gusii Stadium.
According to Selebwa, 35 players reported for their pre-season on Friday. “This is a totally new team. As you are aware, 14 players left before the end of last season and we remained with 11. Four of those who remained are yet to report to camp,” said Selebwa.
He, however, said he is impressed with the current team. “It was a good start for us as we dominated the first 30 minutes. The boys displayed good football and if they train together for two weeks, I’m confident we shall have a good team,” added the veteran coach.
He said he intends to have a team of 25 players and he is using Kecoso games to gauge the players.
“Today, I only fielded four of our regulars. In the next match, I will have a completely different team. Since we have not had a proper pre-season as we had planned, we shall use Kecoso games to prepare for our opening match against Nairobi City Stars,” noted Selebwa.
Selebwa had planned to start his pre-season on July 1 but this failed to materialise owing to lack of funds.
