Teenage striker Benson Omalla is determined to rediscover his goalscoring form in time to help the Emerging Stars shine at the Cecafa Senior Challenge that kicks off in Ethiopia on July 3.
The Gor Mahia forward returned to the country after a brief loan spell with Swedish side Linkoping, with reports suggesting the player had grown disillusioned by the role he was being given on the pitch.
With his burgeoning talent not in doubt,however, having also featured for the senior Kenyan side, the under 23 coach Stanley Okumbi deemed him the go-to man for goals in the regional tournament.
“I want to, first of all, restrategise because I know we have quality all over in the squad and if we play to our capabilities, we have a good chance of challenging for the trophy,” said Omala.
Okumbi has remained confident that despite the reluctance of some topflight clubs to release their players at this juncture in a tightly fought campaign at both ends of the standings Kenya were still a force to be reckoned with.
“I understand why some clubs are not intent on giving us their players at this time but if I can manage to have nine of the eighteen players I had in mind for the tournament, then we will still be strong enough to challenge for the Cecafa title,” Okumbi said.
Kenya, who last won the regional competition in 2017 against Zanzibar, will be looking to reclaim the title from Uganda.
