Gor Mahia stand-in coach Sammy ' Pamzo' Omollo believes the pep-talk delivered by former Kenyan international and club legend Tobias 'Jua Kali' Ochola to the playing unit yesterday will go a long way in inspiring them against CR Belouizdad.
Gor will host the Algerian champions today at the Nyayo National Stadium in a Caf Champions League first round return leg.
The Kenyan champions, whom the majority have written off in their bid to sail to the group stages of the tournament after falling 6-0 in the Algiers, will be seeking to score seven unanswered goals to achieve the target.
Should they fall short, they will drop to the Confederations Cup.
Pamzo, who led the playing unit to have a feel of the Nyayo Stadium yesterday, invited Ochola to motivate them ahead of the duel.
Pamzo, who doubles up as Posta Rangers head coach, revealed that his ambition was to lead the club to get a win of any margin and was certain their preparations and Ochola's talk will inject the morale and fighting spirit needed ahead of the match.
"We are coming up against a decent opponent and I will consider a win of any margin a big achievement. I invited former players to talk to the players after the final training session and I believe their words of encouragement will motivate them to redeem themselves. Ochola touched on the importance of putting aside the problems they are facing and concentrate on winning the duel," he said.
Pamzo, who was delighted to have skipper Kenneth Muguna shake off a rib injury and train in the last two sessions, said all the players showed up apart from Nicholas Kipkirui and John Ochieng.
Kipkirui is said to have vanished after their 3-1 win over APR in November last year while Ochieng is recovering from an ankle injury suffered the same month during a friendly match against Nairobi City Stars.
"We trained as a unit on Monday and yesterday and the morale in camp is promising. Their body language was amazing considering the challenges they have had to grapple with," he said.
Meanwhile, the club's vice chairman, Francis Wasuna revealed that plans were underway to hire a new coach.
Gor have been without a permanent head coach from November after Brazilian Roberto Oliveira returned home to synchronise his papers with the new Caf regulations.
Oliveira's assistant Patrick Odhiambo, who has since been in charge, is on the verge of leaving the club, with reports suggesting that he is likely to join Bandari or Kakamega Homeboyz.
"We will hire a new coach soon. We have numerous applications with us and from them, we hope we will get a qualified coach," he said.
