Western Stima and newbies Kisumu All-Stars are spoiling for the mother of all battles when the two sides clash in a Kenya Premier League match at Moi Stadium in Kisumu tomorrow.
Stima are hoping to maintain their unbeaten run in the league while Kisumu All-Stars, under the tutelage of veteran coach Henry Omino, will be looking for their first win after two losses and a draw.
“We are down but definitely not out. We will rise and I promise our fans and sponsors that we will go all out for a win on Saturday,” Omino said during his team's training at Moi Stadium.
He added: “Derbies are always exciting and explosive. This one has come at the right time. A win will give us momentum and direction because we must get our campaign back on track.”
Omino, who is a former Western Stima coach, urged fans to turn up in large numbers to watch the match dubbed 'Mboka derby'.
His Western Stima counterpart Salim Babu was equally bullish even though he admitted that derbies are sometimes tricky. “Whether a derby or not, we are going for maximum points, nothing less. We have had a good run so far because we have picked points in all our three matches and we want to continue with the same trend. I'm happy with the progress so far,” added Babu.
Babu spoke to the Star on Wednesday evening after his team battled to a barren draw against FKF Division One side Kisumu Hot Stars in Kisumu. Babu is however worried about lack of goals from his strikers.
“Scoring goals is my biggest worry. I have very good strikers but they lack the finishing touch. I have been focusing my training on scoring goals and I hope the trend will change on Saturday,” added Babu.
Babu noted that Hot Stars gave them a good game ahead of the much-anticipated derby. Both Babu and Omino have fully fit squads to pick from.
However, Stima will miss the services of Benson Omalla and Fidel Origa while All-Stars be without Alvin Ochieng and Steve Otieno who are on national duty in Uganda in the ongoing Cecafa Under-20 tournament. Kisumu All-Stars, who are the home team, have released ticketing information with fans paying Sh200 for VIP and Sh100 for terraces.
The club has embraced e-ticketing with fans getting their passes from Kenya Commercial Bank agents.
